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LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 















































1'7'owi a painting by Glenn Mitchell . 


The Heritage 














LEADERS IN 
MAKING AMERICA 


An Elementary History of the United States 

BY 

WILBUR FISK GORDY 




ILLUSTRATED 


> * 
1) > 0 

I) 


) 


CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 

NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON 


ATLANTA 


SAN FRANCISCO 


.1 


Copyright, 1923 , by 
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS 


Printed in the United States of America 



©C1A752S05 







TO AMERICAN BOYS AND GIRLS 


I want you to know what a wonderful and beautiful 
country you are living in, and to learn its fascinating his¬ 
tory. You may do this by following the lives of those 
daring and unselfish leaders who devoted themselves to the 
advancement and uplift of their fellow men. 

Going with such men and women and taking part in 
their adventurous deeds and noble achievements, we may 
have a thrilling experience. As we observe their struggles 
against hardships and difficulties, we admire their bravery, 
patience, and perseverance;- we share their love of great 
causes, and we long to be like them. 

The opportunity to come into close touch, through imag¬ 
ination, with our nation-builders, I have tried to give in 
this book. By coming to know them, by making them your 
friends, and by accepting them as your teachers, you can 
enlarge your own lives. You can learn how to make your¬ 
selves more useful and can grow in your desire to be of ser¬ 
vice in your home, your school, and your community. 

When you know the wealth of your heritage and the 
heroic sacrifice of men and women through whom this heri¬ 
tage has been won, you will feel that deep love for your 


VI 


TO AMERICAN BOYS AND GIRLS 


country which grows with true patriotism, and you will de¬ 
velop a sense of responsibility as American citizens. The 
same spirit which guided and inspired Washington, Lincoln, 
and other great Americans will guide and inspire you to 
give your best service to your country. 


Wilbur F. Gordy. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Christopher Columbus, Seeking an All-Water Route 

from Europe to India, Discovers America. . . 1 

II. The American Indians: a Strange New People and 

How They Live.14 

III. Spain Sends Her Explorers and Leaders into the 

New World.22 

IV. England Sends Her Explorers and Leaders into the 

New World.30 

V. Stories of Early Virginia, Maryland, and Georgia. 40 

VI. The Pilgrims and Puritans Make Settlement in New 

England. 59 

VII. From Holland the Dutch Send Henry Hudson to 

Look into the New World . •.82 

VIII. William Penn Plans a Colony for Quakers in Penn¬ 
sylvania . 95 

IX. Jacques Cartier, Champlain, Father Marquette, and 
La Salle Explore for France the Great Inland 
Waterways of North America.104 

X. The English and the French Become Rivals in North 

America .114 

XI. Patrick Henry Eloquently Defends the Rights of 

the Colonists .137 

XII. Samuel Adams Is the Champion of Freedom and the 

Leader of the Colonists in New England . . 147 


VII 










viii 

CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

XIII. 

PAGE 

The War for Our Independence Begins Near Boston 159 

XIV. 

George Washington Is Made Commander-in-Chief of 

Our Army.171 

XV. 

Nathanael Greene and Other Heroes Uphold 

America’s Cause in the South.195 

XVI. 

John Paul Jones Is the First Great Sea-Captain 

of the American Navy.207 

XVII. 

Famous Backwoodsmen Who Dare to Cross the 
Mountains into the Valleys of the Ohio and 
the Tennessee.213 

XVIII. 

How the Territory North of the Ohio River Is Won 
for America Through the Fearlessness of 
George Rogers Clark.226 

XIX. 

The New Republic, the United States of America, 

Is Launched. 237 

XX. 

The Size of the New Republic Is Greatly Increased 

Through the Foresight of Jefferson . . . 251 

XXL 

Inventors and Internal Improvements Bring Great 

Changes in American Life.269 

XXII. 

Leaders Who Help to Make the Republic Larger. 287 

XXIII. 

How Three Great Statesmen Strive to Settle the 

Problems of Their Time.306 

XXIV. 

The Civil War Determines That the Federal Gov¬ 
ernment Is to Be Supreme Over the States. . 323 

XXV. 

Leaders in the Opening of the Great West . . 358 

XXVI. 

Leaders and Workers in the Great West . . . 379 


XXVII. Two Leaders in the Political Life of the Nation 

at the Close of the Century.392 







CONTENTS ix 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXVIII. Leaders in a New World of Science and Invention. 404 

XXIX. Recent Leaders in the Social and Political Life 

of Our Country .430 

XXX. The Heritage of American Boys and Girls To-Day 467 


Presidents of the United States .473 

Index .475 


maps 

IN COLOR 

The World, Showing the United States and Its Possessions To-day 

between pages 12 and 13 

The United States in 1803, after the Louisiana Purchase facing page 258 


The United States Showing First and Second Secession Areas 

between pages 330 and 331 

The Territorial Growth of the United States .... facing page 466 








CHAPTER I 


CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, SEEKING AN ALL-WATER 
ROUTE FROM EUROPE TO INDIA, DISCOVERS 

AMERICA 

THE PROBLEM FACED BY THE PEOPLE OF WESTERN EUROPE 
FOUR AND A HALF CENTURIES AGO 

Let us imagine ourselves living in the city of Genoa in 
the last half of the fifteenth century. As we go about, we 
hear much talk of the far-away lands in the East, where 
there are golden palaces, beautiful rivers crossed by marble 
bridges, and countless treasures of gold, silver, and jewels. 

Listening with breathless interest to these wonderful 
tales, we long to know more about India, China, Japan, and 
other Eastern countries, for they seem to us like fairy-land. 
So we eagerly take up the maps of the world which geog¬ 
raphers of the day have drawn, but on them we find almost 
nothing except Europe, northern Africa, and the western 
part of Asia. The rest is merely outlined, an indistinct, 
unexplored region. 

Even the wisest men of this time have little knowledge 
of the countries which later came to be known as central 

or eastern Asia, while Australia, North America, and South 

l 


2 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


America play as small a part in their world as the regions 
about the North Pole and South Pole do in ours. 

Much talk is heard in Genoa about the increase of trade 
with the countries of the East, for the products of those 
distant lands have long been of great importance and value 
to Italy, the central market through which passes the trade 
of western Europe. 

In Genoa and Venice live many merchants and ship¬ 
owners who have become rich from this trade. Great mer¬ 
chant fleets sail from Italian ports, loaded with such prod¬ 
ucts as wool, leather, cloth, and furs. Homeward bound 
they bring from the Far East rich cloths, carpets, and rugs, 
as well as silks, spices, perfumes, and precious stones. 

Many of these goods have to be brought on the backs of 
camels, horses, and mules in caravans all the way from 
Persia, India, and China down to the ports where the ships 
are waiting for them. We easily picture the long lines of 
these beasts of burden winding their way to the seacoast. 

This method of transportation was slow and costly, 
compared with ours of to-day with our railroads and swift- 
moving trains. It was full of danger, too, for the caravans 
were often plundered by wild tribes and forced to give up 
part or all of their goods. 

At one time there had been three main routes by which 
the caravans from the inland regions reached the sea. But 
the most northern of these, which passed through the 
Black Sea, was cut off when the Turks captured Constan- 


COLUMBUS DISCOVERS AMERICA 


3 


tinople in 1453. This was a hard blow to Genoa, for her 
merchants had always used this route. 

Moreover, in other cities of Europe also it was now 
feared that their trade with the East would be ruined should 
the Turks gain control of the other two routes, as seemed 
likely. 

Men said: “We must do something to save this Eastern 
trade from disaster. A new route must be found—an all¬ 
water route—to the East.” 

How could this be done? Take up the globe and com¬ 
pare it with the world as geographers knew it then. How 
would you have tried to solve the problem had you been 
a brave sea-captain of that time? Think hard before you 
answer. 

Portugal and Spain, the two nations that sent most sail¬ 
ors to sea, took the lead in searching for an all-water route 
to the East. Portugal set out to find it by sailing down the 
west coast of Africa. It was very slow work, but at last a 
bold sea-captain of that country reached the most southern 
point of Africa, and the King of Portugal named it the 
Cape of Good Hope. Can you guess why ? 

This was in 1487. Ten years later Vasco da Gama, 
another Portuguese sea-captain, reached India by sailing 
around the southern coast of Africa. He was the first man 
to find an all-water route to the East. 

Other fearless seamen ventured far to the west upon 
the unknown waters of the Atlantic Ocean. About the year 


4 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


1000, Leif Ericsson, a hardy Northman, sailing westward 
with a crew of thirty-five men, had landed on the shores 
of North America, probably somewhere on the New Eng¬ 
land coast, and had spent a winter there in rude huts. He 
called the country Vinland, on account of the grapes that 
grew there. Other Northmen had made similar voyages, but 
as no permanent settlements were made, these expeditions 
were forgotten and nothing of importance grew out of them. 

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS UNDERSTANDS THE PROBLEM OF 

THE AGE 

Nearly five centuries later and before the Portuguese 
explorer Vasco da Gama made his famous voyage, a daring 
sea-captain, sailing under the Spanish flag, had tried to 
solve the same problem by sailing west. You know him 
as Christopher Columbus. He was not a Spaniard. Let 
us see how it came about that Spain was the country to 
send him out and gain the glory for what he did. 

Columbus was born in Genoa. His father was a poor 
man, who earned his living by getting wool ready for the 
spinners. We do not know much about the boy Christopher, 
but we may be sure that he was fond of playing on the 
wharfs near his home. Here he could see hundreds of 
vessels coming and going. He must have spent many hours 
watching their white sails. Most likely he was fond of the 
water, and while he was quite young he may have learned 
how to sail boats. 


COLUMBUS DISCOVERS AMERICA 


5 



But he could not 
play all the time. 

Like other boys, he 
had work to do. 

While learning his 
father’s trade, he also 
went to school, where 
he learned reading, 
writing, arithmetic, 
geography, and map- 
drawing. All were of 
great use to him in 
later life. Often, 
while idling on the 
wharfs, he must have 
heard sailors talking 
about how the Turks 
had shut up the 

Black Sea route to the Far East, and about the need of 
finding a new route over the ocean. 


He Was Fond of Playing on the Wharfs. 


COLUMBUS LISTENS, STUDIES, AND BECOMES A SAILOR 

When Columbus had grown to be a man, he went to 
live in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, where one of his 
brothers lived. There, also, as in Genoa, were many sailors, 
and Columbus kept hearing more and more about the need 
of a water route to India and the East. He listened ear- 



















6 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

nestly to the sailors’ stories; he studied maps and charts, 
he thought a great deal; he sailed on many voyages himself. 
He believed that the earth was round like a globe, not flat, 
as many said, and he tried to find proof of this. 

After long years of study, he felt sure that he could 
reach India by sailing straight west across the Atlantic 
Ocean. He would go in the direction just opposite to that 
in which India was supposed to be. “The way to the East 
is by the West,” said he, “and if I can reach India by sail¬ 
ing west, I shall prove also that the earth is round. 

Again take up your globe and study it. But you must 
remember that Columbus knew nothing about North 
America or South America, and that he believed India was 
no farther to the west from Spain than the New World 
was later found to be. Although mistaken in this belief, 
his reasoning was good. Let us try to follow his story. 

THE STORY OF COLUMBUS IS ONE OF STRUGGLE AND 

GREAT COURAGE 

Columbus was not only poor but he had few friends. 
He kept saying to himself: “How can I get money and help 
to make my great dream come true?” 

First, he laid his plans before King John of Portugal, 
who would make no promise to help him. Then taking 
his little son Diego (de-a'go) by the hand, father and son 
started across the mountains to Spain. We may picture 












COLUMBUS DISCOVERS AMERICA 


7 


them hurrying along the rough mountain roads, hardly stop¬ 
ping when the little boy was tired, so eager was Columbus to 
find some one to believe in him and provide the money 
needed for his plans. 

When he came to a place near the town of Pa'los, he 
left Diego with an aunt, and set out alone to find the king 
and queen, Fer'di-nand and Is'a-bel-la. Columbus had a 
hard time getting them to listen to him, for at that time a 
war was going on in the south of Spain between the Span¬ 
iards and the Moors. At last they gave him a hearing. 
They had asked a number of wise men to be present. Some 
of them smiled at Columbus for saying that the earth was 
round like a globe. Others said: “He may be right.” 
But the king and queen would not help him. Sick at 
heart, therefore, he planned to leave Spain and go to 
France. 

Thus far he had failed. Men called him a crazy dreamer. 
Even the boys made fun of him when he walked through a 
village with sad face and threadbare clothing. Yet not 
without hope, and with faith in himself, he started 
bravely for the court of France, again taking Diego with 
him. 

On his way, Columbus met with a good prior of a con¬ 
vent who listened closely to his stoiy and to his plans and 
then wrote at once to Queen Isabella, who knew the prior 
and believed in him as a wise and good man. This letter 
proved a help to Columbus, for a little later the queen sent 


8 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


for him ; and promised to furnish men and vessels for the 
voyage. 

COLUMBUS, THE COMMANDER OF THREE LITTLE VESSELS, 

SAILS ON THE SANTA MARIA 

Yet even with the queen’s help, he still had many trials 
before him. Sailors were hard to get, for they were afraid 
to go far out to sea. The ocean was unknown. But in 



The First Voyage of Columbus, and Places of Interest in Connection with 

His Later Voyages. 


the course of time three small vessels with 120 men were 

ready to start. The vessels were not larger than many of 

* 

our fishing-boats to-day. The largest was the San'ta 
Ma-ri'a, upon which Columbus sailed. 

A half-hour before sunrise on Friday morning, August 
3, 1492, the little fleet put to sea from the port of Palos. 
It was a sorrowful time for the sailors and their friends. 
They believed that the vessels would be lost; that the sailors 
would never again see home and family; and when, a month 




COLUMBUS DISCOVERS AMERICA 


9 


later, the Canary Islands had faded from sight, the sailors 
cried like children. 

Constant worries lay before them. Soon the compass- 
needle no longer pointed to the North Star. The sailors 
did not understand and were terrified. A few days later 
the fleet entered a vast stretch of seaweed. They feared 
that the vessels would stick fast in the grass or run upon 
rocks lying just below the surface of the water. But when 
the wind blew up a little stronger, the vessels passed on in 
safety. 

Entering the belt of trade-winds, the ships were steadily 
driven westward. “We are lost! We can never see our 
friends again !” cried the sailors, and they begged Columbus 
to turn about and try for home. He refused. They be¬ 
came angry, called him crazy, and even wished to kill him. 
They talked of pushing him, overboard some night when 
he was looking at the stars. 

Columbus knew his life was in danger, but he would not 
give up his high purpose. He still had faith and hope. 
The greater the danger, the more firmly he set himself to 
meet it. 

At last, on October 11, birds and broken bits of trees, 
appeared. No one slept that night. Every one was straining 
his eyes to catch the first glimpse of land. 

About ten o’clock in the evening Columbus himself saw 
a moving light in the distance. It looked like a torch in 
the hand of a man running along the shore. 


10 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


COLUMBUS GOES ASHORE THE DISCOVERER OF A NEW WORLD 

Early in the morning little boats were lowered, and 
everybody went ashore. Columbus was dressed in a robe 



The Landing of Christopher Columbus. 


of bright scarlet and carried in his hand the royal flag of 
Spain. As soon as he reached the land, he fell on his knees, 
and with tears in his eyes kissed the earth and thanked 
God for the safe voyage. He found a strange people, who 
worshipped the white men, believing they were beings from 
the sky and that the vessels with their spreading sails were 
huge white-winged birds. Columbus called the dark- 













COLUMBUS DISCOVERS AMERICA 


11 


skinned natives Indians, because he supposed he was in the 
East Indies, and he named the island upon which he had 
landed San Salvador, which means Holy Saviour. 

Sailing on, he reached the coast of Cuba, and thinking 
he was in Japan, he called the island Ci-pan'go (Japan). 
Here he landed and took up his search for the cities of Asia, 
which were said to be so rich in gold, spices, and jewels. 
But he found no cities; he found no gold, no jewels, and no 
spices. 

On Christmas morning he had a serious mishap. While 
it was still dark, one of his little vessels ran ashore on a 
sand-bar and was knocked to pieces by the waves. An¬ 
other of his vessels had deserted the fleet, and now he had 
but one left. On January 4, 1493, therefore, he sailed for 
Spain. After a very stormy voyage, on March 15 he en¬ 
tered the harbor of Palos. A day of rejoicing followed. 
The people stopped all business to give him a welcome. 
His praise was now on every man’s lips. 

Soon he went to Bar-ce-lo'na, where he was honored by 
a street parade. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella sent 
for him. When he came into their presence, they honored 
him by rising. As he knelt to kiss their hands, they com¬ 
manded him to rise and sit with them as an equal. 

The idle dreamer had become a great man. Everybody 
was eager to share his honor and his fame. Many were 
now ready to join him on a second voyage. 

In September, 1493, he sailed with a fleet of seventeen 


12 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


vessels and 1,500 men. Some of them were from leading 
families of Spain, for they expected to bring back much 
wealth from the “Indies” and then to live as grandees. 
They reached Hayti, but they did not find the gold and 
jewels they sought. After three years Columbus sailed back 
to Spain. He made two more voyages. Returning from 
the fourth voyage, he arrived only a short time before 
Queen Isabella died. He had suffered many hardships and 
disappointments, he was broken in health, and felt that he 
had little to live for. 

On May 20, 1506, he died of a broken heart, not know¬ 
ing how great a work he had done. Up to the very last he 
believed he had only sailed to the Indies; he did not know 
that he had discovered a new world. 

HOW THE NEW WORLD WAS NAMED 

From what you have learned, you will probably think 
that the New World should have been named after Colum¬ 
bus. Why it was not, a few words will tell. After Colum¬ 
bus had led the way, many other explorers sailed for the 
West. Among them was Amer'i-cus Ves-pu'cius. How 
many voyages he made, and just when he made them, we 
do not know. But it is thought that he sailed along the 
coast of Bra-ziL, or perhaps along a part of the eastern 
coast of South America lying south of Brazil. 

The descriptions that Vespucius wrote about what he 
had seen in his voyaging were read by German geographers. 


































































































































COLUMBUS DISCOVERS AMERICA 


13 


who liked them because they were so interesting. One of 
these geographers, believing that Americus Vespucius was 
the first man to discover the New World, called it America 
after him. Thus it came about that the land discovered 
by Columbus was called America. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What was the problem of the age at the time when Columbus was 

seeking aid from Spain? 

2. Why was it so important to find an all-water route to India, China, 

and Japan? 

3. With a globe to help you, find out how Columbus came to believe that 

he could reach the Far East by sailing west. 

4. Why did many people laugh at him? 

5. Imagine yourself one of the sailors with him on his first voyage and 

tell your classmates about his trials. 

6. How many days does it take for a steamship to cross the Atlantic to¬ 

day? How long did it take Columbus? How do you account for 
the difference? 

7. Trace on the map or globe the voyage of Columbus and that of Vasco 

da Gama. Which seemed to be the more important at that time ? 
Give reasons for your answer. 

8. What was the great work of Columbus? Why was the New World 

not named for him? 

9. Give as many reasons as you can for believing that Columbus was a 

great man. 


CHAPTER II 


THE AMERICAN INDIANS: A STRANGE NEW PEOPLE 

AND HOW THEY LIVE 

It took the white men a long time to find out the habits 
and customs of the Indians. But let us briefly notice a 
few things about them before going on with our story. 

They did not live in close groups like the people in 
Europe, but were scattered in many groups all over the 
country. Yet many of them were related, so that really 
they formed five great families. Those we know most 
about were the three living east of the Mis'sis-sip'pi River. 
They were the Southern Indians, the Ir'o-quois, and the 
Al-gon'quins. 

Although the Indians of the different tribes did not look 
alike, we may say that, as a rule, they had straight black 
hair, small black eyes, high cheek-bones, and copper-colored 
skins. Their dress was made largely of the skins of wild 
animals. Instead of leather shoes, like ours, they wore moc¬ 
casins made of skins. 

Many of the Indian tribes lived in little villages made up 
of wigwams, each of which, small as it was, provided a home 
for one family. The wigwams were tents made of skins, 
mats, or bark. Sometimes a bear’s hide was used to cover 

14 


THE AMERICAN INDIANS 


15 


the entrance. On the bare earth, in the centre of the wig¬ 
wam, the fire was built, and the smoke was let out through 



In Each Wigwam Lived a Whole Family. 


a hole at the top. There was no carpet, but soft skins kept 
the feet out of the mud or off the frozen ground. 

Some tribes had other kinds of dwellings. The Iro¬ 
quois, for instance, built huge log cabins called “long 
houses,” with rooms along the sides screened off by skins. 





16 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 



Some of these houses were one hundred feet long, and as 
many as twenty families with all their relatives could live 
in one of them. 

The Indians of the Southwest had the strangest dwell¬ 
ings of all. They were made of a-do'be, or clay baked in 
the sun, and were called pueblos. The chief ones wen; 

many times 
larger than 
the “long 
houses/’ and 
the people of 
a good-sized 
town of to¬ 
day could live 
in a single 
pueblo. There 

was one large enough to furnish homes for five thousand 
persons. Indeed, each pueblo was a kind of apartment- 
house, town, and fort all in one. 

Some were two stories high, some were four, and others 
as high as seven stories. Each story was set back a little 
from the one below it, so that the roof of the first became 
the sidewalk, or street, of the second, and so on to the 
top. 

Nobody ever called out, “ Don’t slam the door,” to the 
Indian boys and girls who lived in these pueblos. For 
ever} 7 one had to climb to the top of his home on a ladder 


An Iroquois “Long House.” 
























THE AMERICAN INDIANS 


17 


and let himself in through an opening in the roof. Can you 
guess why they chose such a strange way of getting into 
their houses? It was because they thought that if the en¬ 
trance was on top, it would not be easy for an enemy to 
surprise them. 

Sometimes these strange pueblos were perched high on 



From the American Museum of Natural History., New York. 

Southwestern Indian Group 

the cliffs to make it still harder for enemies to reach them. 
The people living in these strongholds were called cliff- 
dwellers. They built on high places because they were 
weak and afraid of their enemies. 

The strong tribes always built their pueblos close to a 
river or lake. In this fish could be caught, and in the 
gardens near by the squaws could till the soil. 










18 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


THE INDIAN BRAVE AND THE SQUAW 


You may sometimes hear it said that the squaw had to 
do all the work. People who say this believe that the In¬ 
dian brave was 
lazy, and wished 
to make a slave of 
his squaw. 

This is not 
true, for the man 
had his own work 
just as the woman 
had hers. Hunt¬ 
ing and fishing 
were his share; 
and any tribe 
whose men did 
not keep them¬ 
selves trained for 
fighting and on 
the watch for foes 
would soon have 

been killed or made slaves of by some other tribe. 

The Indian brave made the arrows, bows, canoes, and 
other tools which he might need. But he felt too proud 
to do what he thought was a squaw’s work. 

The squaw kept busy about the home. She cooked the 



A Light Bark Canoe Easily Carried. 



























THE AMERICAN INDIANS 


19 


food and made the clothing. She tended the patches of 
corn, melons, beans, squashes, and pumpkins. In doing 
this she scratched the ground with simple tools like pointed 
sticks, or stone spades, or hoes. She also gathered wood, 
made fires, and set up the wigwam. 


THE INDIAN BOY HAS TO LEARN MANY THINGS 

The Indian boy did not go to a school like yours. His 
lessons were learned out-of-doors, and his books were the 
woods and the lakes and the running streams about him. 
By watching, and listening, and trying, he learned to swim 
like a fish, to dive like a beaver, to climb trees like a squirrel, 
and to run like a deer. As soon as he could hold a bow and 
arrow, he was taught to shoot at a mark and to throw the 
tomahawk. 

He had also to learn how to set traps for wild animals 
and how to hunt them. He learned to make the calls of 
wild birds and beasts. For if he could howl like a wolf, 
quack like a duck, and gobble like a turkey, he could get 
nearer his game when on the hunt. He had to learn how 
to track his enemies and how to conceal his own tracks 
when he wished to get away from his enemies. He had 
to become a brave, strong warrior, and be able to kill his 
foe and prevent his foe from killing him. 

For, after all, the most important part of his work when 
he grew up was to fight the enemies of his tribe. If he did 


20 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


not make war upon them, they would attack him. So 
whether he wished or not, he had to fight. 

HOW THE INDIAN TRAVELS 

The Indian’s way of travelling from place to place was 
very simple. When he was looking for fresh hunting-grounds 
or new streams or lakes for fishing, or when he was with a 
war-party, as a rule he went on foot. Sometimes he took a 
forest path or trail, but it was much easier to travel by water. 
Then he found his light canoe very useful. Two men could 
easily carry it, and even one could carry it over his shoul¬ 
ders. 

In the winter, when the lakes and rivers were frozen, 
the canoe was no longer useful. Then, if the Indian brave 
wished to go far, he used his snow-shoes. These were two 
or three feet long and a foot or more wide to keep him from 
sinking into the snow. 

THE INDIANS AND THE WHITE MEN TEACH EACH OTHER 

MANY THINGS 

Before the white men came, most Indians lived very 
simple lives as hunters, fishermen, and warriors. They had 
dogs, but there were no native animals which they could 
tame to give them milk, like our cows, or to draw their loads, 
like our oxen and mules, or to carry them, like our horses. 

Before the white men came, the Indian had never seen 
a sword, a gun, an iron axe, nor a knife made of metal. 


THE AMERICAN INDIANS 


21 


But he soon learned how to use all these things. They made 
his life much easier, for he could get more food with a gun 
than with a bow and arrow, a stone tomahawk, or a hatchet. 

You can see, then, that the coming of the white man 
greatly changed the red man’s life. But the Indian also 
changed the life of the white man. For when the early set¬ 
tler went out into the woods to live, he found it best to live 
much as the Indians did. 

He had to learn how to track his foe and how to con¬ 
ceal his own trail through the forest. He even dressed like 
the Indian. He ate the same kind of food, and, like the 
Indians, he many times suffered for want of food. 

Let us not forget, too, that more than once when food 
was scarce for all, the hungry settlers were kept from starv¬ 
ing by the food which friendly Indians shared with them. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. How was an Indian wigwam made? Perhaps you can make a model 

of a wigwam. What was the “long house”? Find out what kind 
of shelter the Indian used in your section of the United States. 

2. What was the work of the Indian brave? of the squaw? Do you 

think there was a fair division of labor between them? 

3. Imagine yourself an Indian boy living in a wigwam, and tell where you 

would learn your lessons and the things you would learn to do. 

4. Tell all you can about the bark canoe and the snow-shoe and their use 

by the Indian. 

5. How did the white man change the life of the Indian, and how did the 

Indian change the life of the white man? 

6. Do you know of any Indians in America to-day? How do they live 

and dress? 


CHAPTER III 


SPAIN SENDS HER EXPLORERS AND LEADERS INTO 

THE NEW WORLD 

A FEARLESS SEAMAN, FERDINAND MAGELLAN, FINDS A NEW 
ROUTE AND PROVES THAT THE WORLD IS ROUND 

Even after Columbus discovered America, men did not 
know certainly that they could reach the land of silks and 
spices by sailing west. The honor of making sure of this 
belongs to Fer'di-nand Ma-gel'lan. 

He was a Portuguese sea-captain. 'While a young man, 
he went to Lisbon, as Columbus had done. There he heard 
much talk about the great voyages in search of the Far 
East. One of these had been made by Vasco da Gama, 
who, you remember, in 1497 sailed around the Cape of 
Good Hope to India. 

For several years Magellan himself had been going to 
India by that route, but it took too long, and after study¬ 
ing maps and charts, he believed that a passage through 
America would be shorter. 

The king of his country refusing to aid him, like Colum¬ 
bus he turned to Spain. That country, pleased with having 
helped Columbus, provided a fleet of 5 vessels and 280 men. 
With these in September, 1519, Magellan put to sea. 

Many dangers awaited him. He had to face heavy 

22 


SPAIN SENDS HER EXPLORERS 


23 


% 


storms, the fear that food and water might not hold out, 
and angry sailors, who were only too ready to do him harm 
and make the voyage fail in order to get back home. 

But the ships sailed forward, and at length the fleet en¬ 
tered what we now call the Strait of Magellan, at the 
southern end of South America. On every side were frown¬ 
ing mountains. The sailors begged him to return. “I will 
go on,” said Magellan, “if we have to eat the leather off 
the ship’s yards.” When, a little later, he passed out of 
the strait and beheld the ocean, he wept for joy. Still 
heading westward, at last they reached some islands, which 
are now part of the Phil'ip-pines. Here Magellan took 
part in a fight between some native tribes, and was slain. 

The men who still remained, having lost their brave 
captain, pulled up the anchors and sailed westward for home. 
The voyage was a long one. Not until September, 1522, 
nearly three years after setting out with Magellan, did they 
arrive at the home port. Only one of the five vessels and 
eighteen starving sailors made a safe return. 

Such was the sad end of the most wonderful voyage 
that had ever been made. Men knew now that the land 
discovered by Columbus was a great new world. 

VASCO NUNEZ BALBOA CLIMBS A MOUNTAIN TO DISCOVER 

THE PACIFIC OCEAN 

Those who followed after Columbus found no spices, 
jewels, and precious stuffs, but they discovered rich mines 


24 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


of gold and silver, and new fruits and plants. So others 
kept coming to seek their fortunes as mine-owners and 
planters. 

Among these fortune-hunters was Balboa, who settled 
on the Isthmus of Panama. He had heard from an Indian 
chief that beyond the mountains was a great sea, and far 
to the south a country rich in gold, and he started in search 
of them. 

On his way across the isthmus one morning early, he 
climbed the mountains. As he reached the top he saw 
stretching far away before him to the south a vast body of 
water. It was the Pacific Ocean. He had made a dis¬ 
covery great in itself and leading to the knowledge that 
America was not the Indies, but a separate continent. 
This was in 1513. 

HERNANDO CORTEZ AND FRANCISCO PIZARRO ARE RUTH¬ 
LESS FORTUNE-HUNTERS AND BRAVE CONQUERORS 

Two other Spanish leaders, both brave and fearless, 
were Hernando Cortez and Francisco Pizarro. Cortez 
headed an expedition for the conquest of Mexico, landing 
on the eastern coast in 1519. Although his force num¬ 
bered only 450 men, with this small army and fifteen horses 
he boldly faced the dangers of an unknown country. 

Advancing toward the city of Mexico, he had to fight 
two battles, and he won both. *The Mexicans were no match 
for the white-skinned warriors with their coats of iron and 


SPAIN SENDS HER EXPLORERS 


25 


their sharp swords. The horses terrified the natives, who 
imagined them monsters from another world. 

The ruling people of Mexico were the Az-tecs, and their 



Meeting of Cortez and Montezuma. 


chief was Mon-te-zu'ma. On reaching the city, Cortez in¬ 
vited Montezuma to visit him. Though treated as a guest, 
the chief was in reality held as a prisoner. The people, 
stirred with sullen anger, fell upon the Spaniards with great 
fury, and after a week or so of hard fighting, Cortez had 
to leave the city. 

But he did not give up his plan. In about six months 





































26 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 



he returned with another army and compelled the city to 
surrender. He soon completed the conquest of Mexico. 
Not many years after Cortez conquered Mexico, 

Pizarro, equally daring, 


made his name famous 
by the conquest of Peru. 
In 1531 he sailed with 
350 men and 50 horses. 
Like Cortez, he found 
his little army greatly 
outnumbered by the 
natives, but through 
treachery he easily cap¬ 
tured the chief, who was 
called the Inca. After 
the natives had filled a 
large room with gold 
and silver for the Inca’s 
release, Pizarro brought 

Searching for the Fountain of Youth. him to tlial aild had 

him cruelly murdered. 

Thus was the conquest of the country completed. 


JUAN PONCE DE LEON, SEEKING A FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH, 

DISCOVERS FLORIDA 

About the time that Balboa discovered the Pacific 
Ocean, Juan Ponce de Leon (pon'tha da la-on') was gov- 












SPAIN SENDS HER EXPLORERS 


27 


ernor of Por'to Rico. He was no longer young and his 
health was poor. Having heard with eagerness of a wonder¬ 
ful fountain of youth on an island not far to the north, he be¬ 
lieved that if he could drink of its waters, they would bring 
back his health and make him young again. With the 
consent of the King of Spain, he set out to explore and 
conquer the island. 

Sailing north, he reached the new country on Easter 
morning, 1513. The land was so beautiful with flowers 
that he named it Flor'i-da, in honor of the day. He did 
not find the fountain of youth, but he discovered Florida 
and gave it a name. 

DE SOTO, VAINLY HUNTING FOR GOLD, DIES OF FEVER AND 
IS BURIED IN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER 

So many sailors had gone back to Spain with wonder¬ 
ful stories of what they had seen and heard, that many 
were now eager to try their fortunes in the New World. 
Among these was Her-nan'do de Soto. 

He was with Pizarro in Peru, and from there he went 
back to Spain with great wealth and honor. Hoping to 
find another land as rich as Peru and Mexico, he asked the 
Kihg of Spain to make him governor of Cuba. The king 
did so, and also gave him permission to conquer and settle 
Florida. 

De Soto easily found men to join his company, 600 in 
all, among them many gay nobles and daring soldiers. After 


28 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


reaching Cuba and planting a settlement there, De Soto, 
with 570 men and 223 horses, sailed for Florida. Two 
weeks later, in May, 1529, he landed on its western coast. 
Very soon trouble began. There were no roads, and the 



De Soto Reaching the Mississippi River. 


Spaniards had to make their way through thick woods, fol¬ 
lowing the trails of Indians and wild beasts. Often they 
had to cross rivers and wade through swamps, not knowing 
where they would come out. The soldiers were hungry, 
for they had little to eat, and they had to fight the Indians 
much of the time. After a while some of them lost heart 
and begged De Soto to turn back. But he said: “We go 
forward.” At last they reached the Mississippi, crossed it, 












SPAIN SENDS HER EXPLORERS 


29 


and marched north along its western bank, always search¬ 
ing for gold. 

The following winter was long and severe, and their 
sufferings were almost greater than they could bear. De 
Soto himself gave up hope, and decided to push on to the 
Gulf of Mexico, where he could build ships and send for aid. 

When he reached the mouth of the Red River, he fell ill 
with fever, and died in May, 1542. His followers, fearing 
that the red men might attack them if De Soto’s death 
became known, wrapped his body in blankets and in the 
blackness of night lowered it into the dark waters of the 
Mississippi. 

De Soto had come to America to seek a kingdom of 
gold. What he found was hunger, hardship, disappoint¬ 
ment, and a grave in the mighty river he had discovered. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Trace on the map the route Magellan followed. How did he carry 

out the idea of Columbus? What did Magellan’s voyage prove? 
Why do we call his voyage a wonderful exploit? 

2. Show on the map how ships may now pass from the Atlantic into tne 

Pacific Ocean. Find out when the new route came into being and 
tell of its advantages over the old route. Why will some vessels 
continue to use the route through the straits of Magellan ? 

3. What was the notable thing about Balboa’s discovery? 

4. Do you feel that Cortez and Pizarro proved themselves more highly 

civilized than the people they conquered? 

5. Explain how Florida received its name. 

6. What was De Soto seeking in America? What must have been his 

impression of that section which is now southeastern United States? 


CHAPTER IV 


ENGLAND SENDS HER EXPLORERS AND LEADERS 

INTO THE NEW WORLD 

JOHN CABOT, THE “GREAT ADMIRAL,” IS THE FIRST GREAT 
SEA-CAPTAIN TO REACH THE MAINLAND OF 
NORTH AMERICA 

At the time when Columbus sailed on his first voyage, 
another sea-captain, born in the same city as Columbus, 
also was planning to sail westward in search of the In'dies. 
This was John Cab'ot. He was born in Genoa, had his 
home later in Venice, but was now living in Bristol, a sea¬ 
port of England. 

He had travelled much, and had spent some time in 
western Asia, where he had seen a caravan loaded with 
spices. After he returned to England, he asked King 
Henry VII if he might go on a voyage of discover)", and 
the king gave his consent. 

It was not until May, 1497, however, nearly five years 
after Columbus had first sailed, that Cabot put to sea with 
one small vessel and eighteen men. He sailed straight 
west, and landed on the coast of Lab'ra-dor. 

He was the first great sea-captain to reach the mainland 
of North America, for Columbus did not do this until his 
third voyage, in 1498. 

On Cabot’s return to England he was called the “ Great 

30 


ENGLAND SENDS HER EXPLORERS 


31 


Admiral/ 7 and was treated with much honor. The simple 
sea-captain now dressed in fine clothing, like the noted men 
of those days. 

The following year, with six vessels, he made another 
voyage. Where he went, what he found, whether he ever 



John Cabot in London 


came back, we do not know. But it is rather likely that he 
went to what is now Flor'i-da. On the strength of what 
England declared that he had discovered, she at a later 
time claimed all of North America. 

FOR ENGLAND SIR FRANCIS DRAKE FIGHTS SPAIN ON THE 

SEA 

It was many years after Cabot’s voyage before English 
sea-captains sailed their vessels in the waters of the New 
World. One of these was Sir Francis Drake. 






































































32 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


After the conquests of Mexico and Peru, Spain took 
from them great quantities of gold and silver, which she 
used in making wars upon other nations. She longed to 

crush England and bring 
that country under her 
rule. 

When English sea¬ 
men were captured by 
Spanish seamen, some 
were thrown into dark 
prisons, some hanged, 
and others burned to 
death at the stake. You 

A Spanish Galleon of the Sixteenth Century. Will not need to be told, 

then, that Englishmen 
hated Spain; and no one hated her with a stronger hatred 
than did Francis Drake. He spent most of his life on the 
sea, and for many years fought against Spain. 

After making many voyages to the New World, attacking 
Spanish settlements and capturing Spanish gold, he was 
able by the help of some wealthy friends to get together a 
fleet of five ships. It was richly fitted out, his own vessel 
having a table service of gold and silver. He wore very 
fine clothes, for in those days distinguished men dressed 
more handsomely than they do in our time. 

The fleet sailed in November, 1577. After many se¬ 
vere storms and dense fogs, three of the vessels were lost 


















ENGLAND SENDS HER EXPLORERS 


33 


and another deserted; but Drake would not turn back. 
Following the direction of Magellan’s route, he sailed 
through the Strait 
of Magellan and 
passed northward 
along the western 
coast of South 
America. From 
time to time he 
captured Spanish 
ships laden with 
silks, linen, gold, 
and jewels. 

When he was 
ready to return 
home, he sailed 
as far north as 
the island called 
Vancouver in 

Young Drake Watching Vessels Put Out to Sea. 

search ol an East¬ 
ern passage. Then 



he decided to sail westward to England by way of the 
Pacific. Directing his course to the south he entered the 
harbor of San Francisco for repairs before taking up the 
long voyage ahead. He stopped at the Philippines and 
other islands of the Pacific, where he traded with the 
natives and took on fresh food. 


















34 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 



Drake Sees the Pacific Ocean for the First Time. 


After explor¬ 
ing these islands, 
he sailed for the 
Cape of Good 
Hope, and reach¬ 
ed the home port 
early in Novem¬ 
ber, 1580, his voy¬ 
age having lasted 
nearly three years. 
Drake was the 
second man and 
the first English¬ 
man to sail en¬ 
tirely around the 
world. Who had 
done this before ? 


SIR WALTER RALEIGH WINS THE FAVOR OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, 
AND SENDS TO THE NEW WORLD AN EXPEDITION WHICH 
BRINGS BACK POTATOES, INDIAN CORN, AND TOBACCO 

One of the foremost Englishmen that lived in the time 
of Drake was Wal'ter Ra'leigh (raw'li). He was born in a 
town near the sea in the southern part of England. He was 
a bright, wide-awake lad, full of life and fond of all out¬ 
door sports. In his home town lived many old sailors, who 












ENGLAND SENDS HER EXPLORERS 


35 


could tell him stirring tales of life at sea and of hard fights 
with Spaniards. 

While he was still a youth of less than twenty years, he 
enlisted as a soldier in France and later, in Holland, joined 
the army of the Dutch who were at war with Spain. 


Queen Elizabeth Knighting Drake. 



Soon after his return from Holland, according to a 
famous story, he attracted the notice of Queen Elizabeth 
by a simple act of courtesy. One day when she was walking 
in the forest with her attendant, Raleigh happened to 
meet her. As she approached a muddy place, he quickly 
took off his beautiful velvet cloak and laid it down for her 































36 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


to walk upon. This gallant act won the favor of the queen, 
and Raleigh rapidly rose to a high place in her court. 

He was now a tall, handsome man, with dark hair, a 
high color, and blue eyes. He dressed in a splendid way. 

On his hat he wore a 
pearl-covered band and a 
black feather decked with 
jewels. His shoes, also, 
were ornamented with 
gems. His richest suit of 
armor was made of silver. 

Raleigh’s wealth and 
his experience as a soldier 
made him wish to take 
part in the seafaring ad¬ 
ventures that were so im¬ 
portant a part of the 
nation’s life. In 1578 he 
joined his half-brother, Sir 
Hum'phrey Gil'bert, in a 
voyage to New'found-land, 
with the purpose of planting a settlement on the coast of 
America. But this expedition failed. 

Six years later he fitted out two vessels for a voyage 
to the New World. The queen was so pleased with the 
good reports from the new country that she named it Vir¬ 
ginia, in honor of herself, the Virgin Queen. 










ENGLAND SENDS HER EXPLORERS 


37 


The next year Raleigh sent out a colony of 108 persons. 
Sir Richard GrenVille was commander of the expedition, 
and Ralph Lane was to be governor of the colony. 



Raleigh Spreading His Cloak Before Queen Elizabeth. 


They landed at Ro'a-noke. But from the first the In¬ 
dians were treated so harshly that they became very un¬ 
friendly. Food became scarce, and Grenville had to sail 
to England for supplies. 

It was not long before all the settlers were discouraged 






38 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


and sick at heart. Just about this time Sir Francis Drake 
with twenty-three vessels cast anchor near the island. He 
had come from the West Indies, where he had been plun¬ 
dering Spanish settlements, 
and was on his way to 
England. 

He agreed to leave food 
and a part of his fleet with 
the colonists. But when a 
heavy storm came up, the 
settlers in their fear begged 
to return to England, and all 
sailed for home. They had 
found no gold, but they took back another kind of wealth 
in the form of sweet potatoes, Indian corn, and tobacco. 

raleigh’s second colony disappears 

Most men would by this time have lost courage, but 
Raleigh was too strong and brave to give up. Two years 
later he made another attempt. He sent Captain John 
White to America, with 150 men, 17 women, and 11 children, 
and they landed at Roanoke. 

Like the first colony, in a short time these settlers made 
enemies of the Indians. Very soon, also, food became scarce, 
and they begged Captain White to go back to England for 
more. He did not wish to leave the colony, but he knew 
they must have food; so he sailed. 









ENGLAND SENDS HER EXPLORERS 


39 


Almost three years went by before Captain White could 
return to Roanoke, for war was going on between England 
and Spain, and no ships could be spared. When at last he 
arrived, he found only some chests of books, some maps, 
and some firearms. What became of the lost colony, no one 
has ever learned. 

Raleigh’s work in America was over. Although he had 
failed to plant a colony, he had done something better. He 
had taught the English that they should not value the New 
World so much for the gold and silver they might find as 
for the homes they might build there for themselves and 
their children. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. What did John Cabot do for England? What people might have 

settled North America if Cabot had not made this voyage? 

2. Why did Drake and other Englishmen hate Spain? 

3. In what ways did Drake harm the Spaniards? 

4. What important thing did he accomplish ? Trace Drake’s great voyage 

on the map. 

5. Why did Raleigh’s two colonies fail? Locate Roanoke on the map. 

6. What did he teach the English people? What do you think of him 

and of his work ? 

7. In what ways did Drake and Raleigh show themselves more worthy 

than Cortez and Pizarro? 


CHAPTER V 


STORIES OF EARLY VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND 

GEORGIA 

THE SETTLEMENT OF JAMESTOWN 

Twenty years passed before any one tried again to 
plant a settlement in America. Then a group of merchants, 
nobles, and sea-captains, called the London Company, 
made another attempt, still hoping, however, to become 
rich by discoveries of gold and silver and by building up 
trade. 

As a beginning, the company sent out 105 men. But 
they were not the right kind to settle a new country. About 
half of them had never done any rough work, and were 
quite unfitted for the hardships that awaited them. 

They set sail from London on New Year’s Day, 1607, in 
three frail vessels. After a voyage of four months they en¬ 
tered Ches'a-peake Bay and sailed up a beautiful river whose 
banks were blooming with the flowers of a southern May. 
They named the river James, in honor of the King of 
England. 

Fifty miles from its mouth they landed and picked out 
a place in which to settle, naming their settlement James'- 
town, after their king. Remember this town, because it is 

the oldest English settlement in America. 

40 


VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND GEORGIA 


41 


You can imagine that when people come to live in a new 
land there is a great deal to do. They must first provide 
shelter. These settlers began by putting up rude huts cov¬ 
ered with bark or turf, although some made tents of old 
sails, and others merely dug holes in the ground. 

Trouble began at once. It was very hot in the new 
country, and the damp, unhealthy air rising from the un¬ 
drained swamps brought disease. Many fell ill, and some¬ 
times three or four died in a single night. In their long 
voyage across the ocean they had used up most of their 
food, and now a cupful of mouldy wheat or barley was each 
man’s daily allowance. To make matters even worse, the 
Indians were unfriendly, and very soon attacked them, 
killing one and wounding eleven of their number. 

After that, the settlers took turns as watchmen. Each 
man had to be on duty every third night to guard against 
attack, and lying on the damp, bare ground caused more 
illness. Sometimes there were not five men strong enough 
to carry guns. 

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH MAKES FRIENDS OF THE INDIANS 

During the summer about half the colonists died. Per¬ 
haps none would have lived but for one brave and strong 
man. This was John Smith. 

According to his own account, he had already passed 
through many dangers in foreign lands, often narrowly 
escaping death. Returning to England, he was just in 


42 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


time to join these men coming to Virginia. Being fear¬ 
less and quick to think, he proved a great help to the 
colonists during this hard summer. 

When the cooler days of au¬ 
tumn set in, the future looked 
much brighter. There was more 
food and less sickness. Game 
began to run in the woods, gar¬ 
den vegetables ripened, and 
water-birds and fish were plenti¬ 
ful. 

With the colony in better 
condition, Smith thought he 
ought to be looking for a pas¬ 
sage to the “South Sea/ 7 as the 
London Company had ordered. You see, men were still 
searching for the shorter route to the East, and many even 
then believed that the Pacific Ocean lay just beyond the 
mountains west of Jamestown. 

It was December when Smith started out to explore, and 
the weather was cold. After some days he reached the 
Chick-a-hom'i-ny River. When the water became too shal¬ 
low for his boat, he changed into a light canoe, and with 
two white men and two Indian guides paddled on up¬ 
stream. Before long they landed, and he was captured by 
the Indians. 

Of what happened to him during the next few weeks, 



John Smith. 






VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND GEORGIA 


43 


you may be sure he made an exciting story. He said the 
Indians took him to their chief, Pow-ha-tan', and were 
about to kill him when just at that moment the chiefs 
little daughter, Po-ca-hon'tas, rushed forward and, throw- 



John Smith and Pocahontas. 


ing her arms about his neck, begged her father to spare his 
life. Powhatan did so, and adopted Smith into the tribe. 

Three days later, when Smith, after being away about 
two weeks, was allowed to return to Jamestown, he found 
the settlers were out of food. But that very day Captain 
Newport arrived from England with fresh supplies and with 
120 new colonists. 

Pocahontas, also, along with a band of Indian braves, 







44 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


soon came to the settlement; bringing baskets of corn, wild 
fowl; and other kinds of food. What a good friend and 
peacemaker the little maid was! 

The following summer Smith made another expedition; 
in which he was more successful. The Indians were not 
unfriendly; and he was able to make some valuable maps. 
He explored the Potomac River and various parts of Ches¬ 
apeake Bay. 

On his return to Jamestown (September; 1608); he was 
made president of the council. Since there was but little 
food; careful management was necessary. He laid down 
the law that “To save ourselves from starving; every man 
must turn to and help by working. He who will not work 
shall not eat.” And every man had to obey the new rule. 
Although the lazy settlers did not like it; they set to work 
cutting down trees ; building houses, clearing up the land, 
and planting corn. 

As we should expect, the outlook grew brighter, but on 
account of a wound Smith had to return to England. 

“the STARVING TIME,” AND THEN COMES LORD DELAWARE 

When Smith left, Jamestown had a population of 500. 
Shortly after he had gone, the Indians began to rob and 
plunder the settlers, and even killed some of them. 

Cold weather set in, and there was much sickness and 
suffering. Sometimes several died in one day. To make 
matters worse, before the end of the winter there was no food. 


VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND GEORGIA 


45 


The starving men tried in vain to live on roots and 
herbs, and then were driven to eat their dogs and horses. 
At the end of this dreadful winter, which was called “the 
starving time,” only 60 of the 500 men were left alive. 



Landing of Lord Delaware. 


Late in the spring a little vessel arrived from England 
with more men. They found the settlers so weak that 
they could hardly walk, and quite unable to do any work. 
We may be sure they were glad to give the newcomers 
a warm welcome. 

But as the ship brought little food, they all decided 
to sail away to England. Then, before they reached the 
mouth of the James River, they met Lord Deb a-ware. 


























46 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


He was the new governor, and had come with three ships 
bringing men and supplies. So they turned back, and the 
colony was saved. 

Lord Delaware made wise laws, and everybody seemed 
ready to obey them. Again, however, just as the settlers 



were becoming hopeful, misfortune overtook them. The 
governor had to go back to England because he was not well. 

Sir Thomas Dale was left in charge of the colony. He 
was a stern ruler, but he made one veiy good change. 
Ever since coming to Jamestown, the colonists had kept up 
the foolish plan of having one large storehouse which they 
used in common. That is, every man put in what he 
raised, and took out what he needed. 

As you might expect, the lazy men let the others do the 
work for them. But by the new plan, which Dale began, 














































VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND GEORGIA 


47 


each of the settlers was to have three acres of land for him¬ 
self, and was to turn into the common storehouse only six 
bushels of corn a year. The rest of his crop he could use 
as he pleased. 

This was much fairer. The lazy men had to get to 
work or starve, while the good workers raised so much 
that the colony after that not only had all it needed but 
could sell to the Indians. 

Another change that worked well was a new way * of 
making laws. Up to this time the settlers had had noth¬ 
ing to do with managing the affairs of the colony. But in 
1619 a new charter allowed each settlement—there were 
now eleven—to send two men to an Assembly to help make 
laws for all. 

Now that each man could keep for himself what he 
earned and have a share in making the laws, a better class 
of settlers were coming to Virginia. Men with families 
were willing to take their chances in the new country. 

Up to this time most of the men who came over were 
not married. Of course they expected to remain only a 
while and then return to England. But if they had their 
own homes they would be likely to settle for good in Vir¬ 
ginia. 

Early in 1620 the London Company sent out a new 
kind of cargo. It was ninety young women to become 
wives of the settlers. Each settler, however, had to win 
the consent of the maiden he chose for his bride. 



48 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


HOW TOBACCO-GROWING BRINGS ABOUT PLANTATION LIFE 

The colonists found that more money could be made by 
raising tobacco than in any other way, so they planted 
many acres of it. But as tobacco would not grow year 
after year in the same soil, the planters had to own a great 

deal of land, and these holdings were 
called plan-ta'tions. To care for them 
there was need of many workers. To 
meet it poor boys and girls were 
brought over from England and bound 
to service until they should grow up. 
Later, men came who had agreed, 
before starting, to work a certain num¬ 
ber of years for those who paid their 
passage. These were called inden¬ 
tured servants. 

Finally some negroes were brought 
to Virginia. Twenty came from 
Africa in a Dutch vessel (1619) and 
were sold as slaves. But it was a 
long time before the number of slaves increased very much. 

The plantations lay, for the most part, along the many 
rivers in eastern Virginia, where each planter could have 
his own wharf and load his tobacco for market. 

The vessel which took the tobacco to England brought 
back such things as chairs and tables, pots and kettles, 



A Virginia Planter. 


VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND GEORGIA 


49 



axes, hoes, ploughs, and clothing. In fact, for years after 
Jamestown was settled, almost everything that the planter 
needed for his house 
and his plantation 
was brought from 
England by vessel to 
his wharf. 

Since the planta¬ 
tions were so large 
and so far apart, no 
large towns grew up. 

But the many rivers 
and smaller streams 
made it possible for 
the planters to visit 
one another. If they Vessel at wharf Receiving Tobacco - 

could not go by water, they would ride on horseback over 
bridle-paths through the forests. 


LORD BALTIMORE SENDS THE ARK AND THE DOVE WITH 
SETTLERS TO PLANT THE MARYLAND COLONY 

At the time when the Jamestown settlers were having 
their hardest struggle with disease, famine, and Indians, 
the Catholics in England were also having trouble on ac¬ 
count of their religion. Some were fined and others were 
thrown into prison for not obeying the laws about public 
worship. 



















































50 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


One of their number ; George Calvert, Lord Bal'ti-more, 
resolved to plant a settlement in the New World where the 
Catholics could worship God in their own way without being 
punished. King James was his friend and gave him a 
grant of land in New'found-land; but it was too cold there. 

Lord Baltimore then received the permission of the new 
king, Charles I, the son of King James, to plant a colony in 
the lands lying north of the Po-to'mac. But Lord Balti¬ 
more died before he could carry out his plan, and his son, 
Cecil Calvert, succeded him. 

In November, 1633, two of Baltimore’s vessels, the Ark 
and the Dove, sailed from England with between two and 
three hundred settlers. Only twenty of these called them¬ 
selves “gentlemen”; the rest were used to work. They 
had with them a good supply of food and tools. 

After a voyage of over three months, and a few days of 
rest at Point Comfort, in Virginia, they reached the Po¬ 
tomac. Near its mouth they landed on a little wooded 
island, and planted a cross as a sign that it belonged to a 
Catholic people. 

Sailing a few miles up the river, they entered a broad, 
inviting bay, which proved to be the mouths of some little 
streams. There was a good landing near its head, and 
they chose it for their first settlement. They named it St. 
Mary’s, and the bay St. Mary’s “River.” The colony 
Lord Baltimore later called Mary-land, after the queen, 
Hen'ri-et'ta Ma-ri'a. 


VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND GEORGIA 


51 



Friendly Indians, Crowding the Banks, Gazed in Wonder at the. Huge Ships. 


They found the Indians friendly, and bought from them 
a tract of land, paying for it with axes, hoes, and cloth. Of 
course you know the Indians could not use money. 

As in Virginia, nearly all the people lived on plantations, 
most of which were connected by water. Travel was chiefly 

















































52 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


by boats and canoes, or on 
horseback, as there were no 
roads for carriages. 

Strangers always found 
a welcome in the settler’s 
home. It was pleasant to 
get news from the outside 
world, for you must re¬ 
member that there were no 
newspapers then. At night, 
when the candles were 
lighted and the logs were 
burning in the open fire¬ 
places, stories true or made 
up were always sure of eager 

listeners. 

As in Virginia, 

tion life left no chance for 
towns to grow. For many 
years St. Mary’s, the capital, was the only town in Mary¬ 
land, and for a long time this was little more than a village. 

JAMES OGLETHORPE, A MAN OF HUMANE SPIRIT, FOUNDS 

THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 

In the days of which we are speaking, there were other 
troubles which needed righting besides those of religion. 
The laws about debt were very severe. When a man could 




Early Settlements in Virginia and 
Maryland. 




VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND GEORGIA 


53 


not pay what he owed, even if it was only a small sum, he 
was thrown into prison, and many men died there in hope¬ 
less misery. 

Among those of high position who had a deep interest 
in helping these unfortunate debtors was James O'gle-thorpe, 
a noble and tender-hearted man. He had been a brave soldier 
and was now a member of the English House of Commons. 

His plan was to raise money to set free the most worthy 
debtors, if they would agree to go to America. “There,” 
said this kind man, “they can begin life over again.” 

When the plan was complete there were other worthy 
poor, all men of excellent character, who were permitted 
to join the enterprise. Besides helping poor men the colon}^ 
had another purpose. Located far to the south it was to 
serve as an outpost of defense against the Spanish settle¬ 
ments of the border and against unfriendly Indians. 

In January, 1733, Oglethorpe landed on the coast of 
South Carolina, where he was cordially welcomed. Choos¬ 
ing a high bluff on the southern bank of the Savannah River, 
he made a settlement and called it Savannah. He named 
the colony Georgia, in honor of King George II. 

Oglethorpe took up his quarters in a tent, sheltered by 
four beautiful pine-trees, and there he lived for more than 
a year. 

Like Penn, he won the friendship of the Indians by fair 
treatment. One day, soon after the arrival of the English, 
an Indian chief from a near-by tribe appeared and handed 


54 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


him a buffalo skin, on the inside of which was a picture of 
the head and feathers of an eagle. “Here is a little pres¬ 
ent,” he said. “The feathers of the eagle are soft, and this 
means love. The skin of the buffalo is warm, and this means 
protection. Therefore love and protect our little families.” 
Such was the beginning of a lasting friendship between 
Oglethorpe and the Indians upon whose land he had settled. 

To give occupation to the men and to bring money into 
the colony he began a trade in furs with the Indians. Then, 
since there were many mubber-ry-trees growing in Georgia, 
he started the raising of silkworms; for, as you know, they 
feed upon mulberry leaves. After a little the people began 
to weave silk, and they were quite proud to send a dress 
pattern to the English queen, who had it made into a gown. 
The soil was also cultivated. At intervals colonists con¬ 
tinued to arrive, and several strong settlements grew up. 

Oglethorpe honestly and unselfishly tried to do everything 
possible for the good of the settlers; but there were certain 
regulations which they regarded as hardships. For instance, 
they had no share in making the laws; no rum was allowed 
because Oglethorpe thought it would bring harm to the 
people; and negro slaves were not permitted in the colony. 

The settlers, however, said they needed rum, and that 
the climate was so hot and bred such fevers that they must 
have negroes to do the work. It was true that in raising 
crops Georgia fell behind the neighboring colonies, where 
slaves were employed to till the soil. 


VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND GEORGIA 


55 


At last the people were allowed to have their own way; 
the land laws were also made better, and the colony then 
advanced in prosperity. 

The founders of Georgia may have made mistakes in 
managing the colony, but they were upright and earnest 
for the best interests of the people. In 1752, it became a 
royal province, and industries steadily grew, giving promise 
of the place that Georgia was to take among the great 
states of our Union. 

A PICTURE OF LIFE IN THE SOUTH IN EARLY COLONIAL DAYS 

Now that we have seen something of how the colonies 
of the South started, let us go on a make-believe visit to 
their homes. 

The first houses of the early settlers were simple cabins, 

but at the time of our visit, there are many rich planters 

living in two-story houses of wood or brick. Very pleasant 

they look with their vine-clad porches in front and wide 

hall wavs inside. Thev are called man'sions. 

%/ %/ 

Near the planter’s house are little cabins, squatting in 
the midst of gardens and poultry-yards. These are for 
slaves, and about them the little black children romp and 
play at all hours of the day. There, also, are the stable, the 
barn, the smoke-house, and other needed buildings, so that 
each plantation is a little village by itself, with its own 
blacksmith, wheelwright, shoemaker, doctor, overseer, and 


so on. 


56 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


If we are invited into the “big house/’ we shall not find 
carpeted floors, unless our visit is made a hundred years or 
so after the first settlement. But we may find rugs and 
handsome furniture—tables, sideboards, four-post bed¬ 
steads, and other pieces bought from English merchants. 
The family use pewter dishes every day, but there are some 
shining silver pieces on the sideboard. 



Tables, Chairs, Four-posted Bedstead. 


The cooking is done over a fireplace, and cakes of corn- 
meal, or “pones,” are baked in the hot ashes. 

We see the spinning-wheel and flax-wheel in many homes. 
There are also moulds in which candles are made; for 
candlelight is the only evening light, except that from the 
blazing wood in the fireplace. Yet much of the clothing 
and many of the utensils for house and farm are brought 
from England, in exchange for the planter’s tobacco. 


















































VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, AND GEORGIA 


57 


It may be our good luck to see a ship from England come 
in while we are here. At these times everybody is excited 
and happy. For the ship brings not only needed things for 
which the people have been waiting, but also news from 
friends in the mother country, and sometimes, best of all, 
the friends themselves. Then there are glad meetings and 
everybody talks and laughs at once. 

We cannot go to school with these children, for on these 
big plantations they live too far apart to attend a common 
school. Many of the poorer children are growing up with¬ 
out learning to read and write. But perhaps the planter’s 
children will show us how they study. They are taught 
at home by tutors or clergymen. When they grow older, 
some of the boys will go to England to study further. 

There are many men in the South who read a great deal; 
for the work of their plantations is carried on by others, 
and some have fine libraries. 

They are very fond of riding to the hunt. The wild woods 
are full of game, and no Southern youth is thought manly 
until he is a good rider and hunter. How exciting is the 
meet when the hounds in full chase follow the fox and the 
horsemen follow the hounds, riding at full speed and jump¬ 
ing ditches and fences in their path! 

On the day of a horse-race people come flocking from far 
away. Besides the horse-race, there are hurdle-races and 
other lively sports, with greased poles and greased pigs, to 
entertain the crowd. 


58 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


These people of the South do not keep Thanksgiving Day, 
but they make much of Christmas. Then all is gay and 
bright in the planter’s house. There is great feasting, and 
in the evening it is followed by dancing and music. What 
a pretty sight it is! 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What object did the London Company have in mind at first in making 

a settlement in America ? Do you think the Company was wise 
in its choice of settlers? 

2. Find the position of Jamestown on the map. What advantages would 

it seem to have for a settlement ? What disadvantages ? 

3. What did the first settlers expect to do? How did they live the first 

summer at Jamestown? Tell about their houses, their food, and 
their sufferings. 

4. What kind of man was John Smith, and how did he help the people 

of Jamestown? 

5. What did little Pocahontas do for Smith, and how did she help the 

settlers in their time of need? 

6. Tell how Governor Dale modified the plan of the common storehouse. 

Why was his plan a good one? 

7. Why did the Virginia settlers raise so much tobacco and live on plan¬ 

tations? Why did most of the plantations face some river? 

8. Why did Lord Baltimore wish to plant a settlement in the New World? 

9. Why were towns small and few in number in Maryland and Virginia? 

10. Why did James Oglethorpe wish to plant a colony in America? 

11. How did he make friends of the Indians? 

12. What made him think of raising silkworms? 

13. What do you admire in Oglethorpe? 

14. Imagine yourself visiting in the Southern colonies in the early days, 

and tell all you can about the planter’s house and its surroundings. 

15. How did the people amuse themselves in the South? 





CHAPTER YI 

THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS MAKE SETTLEMENT 

IN NEW ENGLAND 

THE PURITANS LOVE THEIR CHURCH BUT WISH TO WORSHIP 

MORE SIMPLY 

During the period we are studying there were many 
people in England who loved the Church of England but 
wished to worship more simply. They were called PuTi¬ 
tans. 

Some of them disliked the forms of worship so much 
that they left the Church of England to have a church of 
their own. Later they came to be called Pil'grims because, 
as we shall see, for the sake of their religion they journeyed 
about so much. 

Before they left England, these people met for Sunday 
service in the home cf William Brewster, one of their lead¬ 
ing men. He lived in the little village of Scroo'by. For 
a year they tried to worship by themselves. But the law 
did not permit secret meetings. And when they were found 
out they were punished and some were thrown into prison. 

This was hard, and after a while they made up their 
minds to leave England and seek homes in Holland, where 
they knew they could worship God as they pleased. But 

as the king was unwilling to let them go, it was not easy 

59 


60 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


for them to carry out their plan. Yet in 1608, a year after 
the settlement of Jamestown, they managed to get away 
and sail to Am'ster-dam, moving later to Ley'den (li'den). 

Even after thev had been in Holland for manv years, 
they still loved England, and did not get over longing for 
the English ways of doing things. It made them sad to see 
their children growing up as Dutch children, and speaking 
Dutch instead of English. 

Finally they said: “We will go to America, where we 
can worship God and bring up our children in our own way.” 

But the English king was not willing to let them settle 
in America. Besides, they were poor, and found it hard to 
raise money for the voyage. At last the king promised he 
would not trouble them in America if they did nothing to 
displease him there. 

So the money needed for the voyage was borrowed, and 
after a long time a company was made ready to leave 
Holland. 

They sailed in a little vessel called the Speed'well. But 
not all of them could go—some were too old and weak—and 
the parting was a sad one. When good-bys were said, we 
may be sure that many eyes filled with tears. The pastor, 
who stayed in Holland, knelt on the shore and asked God 
to bless those of his flock who were going to the far-off land. 

At Ply'mouth, England, the Speedwell was joined by a 
rather larger vessel, the May'flow-er. Twice the vessels 
started, and twice they had to put back because the Speed- 



THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS 


61 


well leaked. Finally the Speedwell was left behind and as 
many as possible were crowded into the Mayflower. 

At last ; on September 6, 1620, the final start was made. 



From a painting by Charles W. Cope, 

Departure of Pilgrim Fathers from Delft Haven, 1620. 


There were about one hundred people on board, among 
them twenty boys and eight girls. 

It was a perilous journey. Day after day heavy storms 
and high winds tossed the boat about as if she were a cork. 
The sails were torn, and at times it seemed as if the little 
vessel would be lost in the great waves. Surely the Pil¬ 
grim boys and girls must have been homesick for the safe 
though simple life they had left behind. 







62 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


In spite of storms, however, the ship arrived at the end 
of her voyage on Saturday, November 21, and anchored 
in what is now called the harbor of Prov'ince-town. They 
had been sixty-four days in crossing the At-lan'tic, a trip 
which our great steamships to-day make in less than a 
week. 


THE PILGRIMS SEARCH EARNESTLY FOR A HOME 

What thoughts must have come to these brave men and 

women as they caught the first glimpse of the strange new 

land which was to be their home! How tired and lonelv 

%/ 

they must have felt! Not a house nor a human being in 
sight! Only sand-hills and trees and dreary stretches of 
deep snow! Yet they had faith in God’s care and were not 
afraid. 

Before any one landed, the Pilgrim fathers gathered in 
the cabin of the Mayflower, and agreed to stand together 
and obey such laws as they might pass later. They elected 
John Car'ver as their governor and Captain Miles Stan'dish 
as their military leader. Captain Standish was not a Pil¬ 
grim, but he liked these brave men and enjoyed adventure. 
Although a small man, he was active and daring. He was 
also a good soldier, and was a great help to the Pilgrims in 
meeting the dangers of their new life. 

Without delav a few of the men, with Miles Standish as 
leader, went ashore to look for a place to settle. 


THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS 


63 


IIOW THE PILGRIMS SPEND THE FIRST WINTER IN 


PLYMOUTH 


A month passed before they chose Plymouth for their 
new home and began to build their little village. As soon 
as the settlers had landed, everybody set to work. We 
can almost see the busy men and boys, some eagerly chop¬ 
ping down trees, others sawing 



trunks into logs of proper 
length, and still others dragging 
the logs to the places where 
they were to be used. 


While the men and boys 
were getting up a big appetite 
over their work, the women 
and girls were busy kindling 
fires, washing clothes, cooking 
food, and doing the many 
things that need to be done 
for the family comfort. How 
good it would be to have a 
home once more! 


The first building which 


Miles Standish in Armor. 


they put up was a rude log 

house twenty feet square. This was to serve for the com¬ 
mon storehouse and for shelter until they could build sepa¬ 
rate houses. 




64 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


The logs were laid one upon another to form the walls 
of the buildings. Then the cracks were filled with straw 
and mud, and the roof was covered with reeds. The win¬ 
dows were made of oiled paper. 

When, later, they built their houses, they placed them 
for safety in two rows, one on each side of the street which 

V / 



Plymouth in the Early Days. 


led from the harbor up the hill. At the top stood the fort, 
where they could run for protection if Indians attacked 
them. 

During the first winter their food was plain, and there 
was none too much of it. Bread made of wheat, rye, or 
barley was about all they had. Only once in a while, when 
some one killed a deer or a wild fowl, did they have any 
meat; for, like the planters of Jamestown, the Pilgrims had 
no chickens or cows. Cold water, too, was all they had to 



































THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS 


65 


drink. They must have longed sometimes for the good 
milk which they used to have in England and Holland. 

But besides having too little food, and that not very good, 
the Pilgrims suffered much from the cold. Until their dwell¬ 
ings were finished, some had slept on board the Mayflower. 

Scant food and lack of warm clothing, with many other 
hardships, caused much suffering. At one time only Elder 
Brewster, Captain Standish, and five others were well 
enough to take care of the sick. Standish, who was very 
gentle and kind in sickness, made an excellent nurse. He 
also cheerfully helped with the cooking, washing, and other 
household duties. At times there was a death every day, 
and at the end of the first winter one-half of the settlers, 
had died. 

Yet in spite of all this suffering, when in the spring the 
Mayflower sailed back to England, not one would leave 
Plymouth. They wanted to do the work which they had 
set out to do, and believed it was not right to give up. 
How proud we may be that our first Americans were such 
fine, strong people! 

THE PILGRIMS AND THE INDIANS MAKE PEACE 

Although they were in constant dread of attack from 
the Indians, it was nearly three months before an Indian 
showed himself at the settlement. Then, one day in March, 
a duskv stranger was seen coming down the street of the 
village. His first words were: “Wel-come, Eng-lish-men.” 


66 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


This was Sam'o-set. Where do you suppose he learned 
those English words ? 

About a week after Samoset made his first visit to 
Plymouth, he came again, bringing the chief, Mas-sa-soit, 
with him. Captain Standish, with his company of soldiers 
beating drums and blowing trumpets, went out to meet 



From a painting by G. H. Boughtou . 

Pilgrim Exiles. 


the Indian chief and escort him to Governor Carver. At this 
meeting a treaty of peace was made that lasted fifty years. 

With summer came easier times. There was much less 
sickness and much more food. In the autumn there were 
good crops of corn and barley to store away, and plenty of 
wild ducks, geese, turkeys, and deer in the woods. 

Late in the autumn Massasoit with ninetv Indians 





THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS 


67 


came to pay a visit to Plymouth. They brought with them 
some deer, and the Pilgrims supplied other food. A three 
days’ feast followed 
to celebrate the good 
feeling, and that was 
the beginning of our 
Ne w E ngland Thanks- 
giv'ing. 

The Pilgrims were 
never quite sure, 
though, what the In¬ 
dians might do, and 
so they built around 
Plymouth a palisade 
of posts ten to twelve 
feet high. These were 
set deep in the ground 
and pointed at the 
top. They also built 
on “Burial Hill” a 
large, square block¬ 
house, or thick-walled building, with loopholes from which 
to fire their guns. 

The lower part was used as a meeting-house, where 
meetings of all kinds were held. On Sunday it was a place 
of worship. But when they wished to talk over some plan 
for the public good, such as the building of a road or a 



They Built Around Plymouth a Palisade of Posts. 




















































68 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


bridge, they met here also on week-days. These week¬ 
day meetings were very like our town meetings. 

But the Pilgrims had other worries besides the Indians. 
They had borrowed a great deal of money when they came 
to the New World, and men and women alike had to work 
very hard to pay it back. Yet by trading with the In¬ 
dians, mainly for furs, by sending furs, fish, and timber to 
England, and by earning and saving in every way, at the 
end of six years they had freed themselves from debt. 

Such people were bound to succeed. Although poor in 
houses and lands, they had something which was worth 
far more, and that was the desire and the will to do what 
was right. Yet life in the colony was hard, and the popu¬ 
lation grew slowly. At the end of four years there were 
only ISO persons and 32 houses. 

AFTER THE PILGRIMS, THE PURITANS COME TO NEW 

ENGLAND 

From time to time news of the free life of the Pilgrims 
reached England, where the king, Charles I, was making 
it harder than ever for the Puritans. He believed that 
whatever he did as king was right, and that all should 
obey him without question. 

The Puritans became so unhappy that many of them 
gave up their old homes and sailed for New England to 
make new homes in a free country. They were not simple 
folk like the Pilgrims. Many were rich men, some be- 


THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS 69 

longed to families of high rank, and some had great 
learning. 

A small company had come over in 1628 and settled at 
Sa'lem. But in 1630 the great body of Puritans began to- 
come over in throngs. Nine hundred, led by John Win'- 
throp, a rich lawyer and 
country gentleman, settled 
first at Charles'town, then 
spread out to Bos'ton and 
other towns near by. 

The first part of this 
company left England in 
eleven vessels, bringing with 
them horses, cattle, and 
many other things useful in 
settling a new country. After 
a voyage of nearly nine John winthrop. 

weeks they reached New 

England about the middle of June. The time of sailing 
had been carefully planned so that they should reach their 
new homes early enough to get ready for winter. 

But in spite of their foresight, all did not go as they 
had planned. Winter did not find them ready, and they 
had many hardships to meet. The coarse food did not 
agree with them. Corn bread, bad drinking-water, and 
poor shelter made many ill. Before December, 200 had 
died, and yet ncbody thought of going back. “I am not. 




70 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


sorry that I have come/’ said the leader, John Winthrop, 
a man of strong and beautiful character. 

When the future looked darkest, a fast-day was ap¬ 
pointed to ask for God’s help. But on the very day be¬ 


fore, a supply-ship 
came from England, 
and the fast-day was 
turned into a day of 
thanksgiving. 



The worst was over. 
Soon spring brought 
milder weather, then 
came the early wild 
fruits, and soon after¬ 
ward the new crops. 
Before another winter 


Puritans on Horseback. 


they had learned how to make themselves more comfortable. 

WISHING EVERY ONE TO WORSHIP GOD IN HIS OWN WAY, 
ROGER WILLIAMS FOUNDS THE RHODE ISLAND COLONY 

The Puritans valued their religion more than anything 
else in the world. For its sake they had given up their 
homes in England and most of what was pleasant in their 
lives. Since their freedom of worship had cost so much, 
of course they wished to make sure of not losing it. 

They thought that, above all else, they must not let 
any other religions grow up. So they made very strict 




THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS 


71 


laws. They said: “Every one must go to the Puritan 
church.” “No one may vote or take any part in making 
the laws except mem¬ 
bers of the church.” 

Some of the Puri¬ 
tans did not like this. 

Among them was Roger 
Williams, a young man 
of gentle and noble yet 
strong character. He 
was a minister, first at 
Salem, then at Plym¬ 
outh, then again at 
Salem. 

It was when he re¬ 
turned to Salem that 
he got into trouble with 
the Puritans, for he 
said many things they 
did not like. “You do 
not own the land you 
live on/’ he boldly declared. “You got your claim to it 
from the King of England. But as he never owned the 
land, he had no right to give it to you.” 

“You have no right,” he went on, “to tax people to 
support a church to which they do not belong. Nor have 
you the right to make people go to church.” 



m 


Roger Williams Fleeing Through the Woods. 














72 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


His bold talk startled the Puritans. Of course they 
did not like it. Such ideas might make them no end of 
trouble if Roger Williams kept on preaching them. So 
they made him leave the colony. 

Bidding good-by to his wife and children, he set out 
alone with only a compass for a guide. To keep from 
freezing, he carried an axe to chop wood, and flint and 
steel to kindle fires. His only shelter at night was a hol¬ 
low tree, or perhaps a covering of brush. After many days 
he reached Mount Hope, and there the Indians sheltered 
him. He spent most of the winter in the wigwam of his 
good friend Massasoit. 

In the spring he started out in a frail canoe to a place 
where the Indians said there was good spring-water. He 
found it and, with five or six friends who had joined him, 
made a settlement, which he called Prov'i-dence. 

Such was the beginning of Rhode Island (rode i'land) 
Colony. There every man was welcome and every man 
could worship as he thought best, or not at all if he chose. 

A PICTURE OF LIFE IN NEW ENGLAND IN EARLY COLONIAL 

DAYS 

We have visited the South on a make-believe journey; 
now let us take a trip to New England. We shall find life 
there different in many ways. 

There are many villages. In some the houses are built 
along both sides of a road; in others, they are grouped 


THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS 


73 


around a central green. But we are pretty sure to find the 
meeting-house, the blockhouse, the minister’s house, and 
the inn not far apart. 

Here and there we see some newer houses of brick and 



Early Settlements in New England. 


stone, and if we come at a later time we shall find rich 
merchants and ship-cwners living in fine houses with costly 
furniture. But most of the dwellings we see now are rough 
wooden cabins, containing only two rooms, a living-room 
and a kitchen, with the chimney between. 

The people seem glad to see us and ask us in. What 
huge fireplaces! Here is one big enough to take in a great 
log six feet long and three feet, thick. But the people tell 
us that even when the flames roar up the chimney, the ink 
freezes on their pens a few feet away from the fire! 








74 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


What would happen if the fire should go out? There 
are no matches, of course. They tell us that at night they 
cover the glowing coals with ashes, so that the fire will 
keep. Does it ever go out? Yes, sometimes, and then 
one of the children runs to a neighbor’s and brings home a 
pan of red coals or a burning stick to relight it; or sparks 

are struck from flint into a 
tinder-box or into dry leaves 
to start a little blaze. 

It is nearly noon when we 
arrive, and in front of the 
fire the meat or fowl for din¬ 
ner is being roasted. It hangs 
by a hempen string from a 
hook above. A child keeps 
the string turning, and sometimes the housewife twists it and 
lets it untwist again. 

The table is a long board, about three feet wide, with a 
bench on either side for seats. There are no plates, but 
the food is served on wooden blocks ten or twelve inches 
square and three or four inches thick, scooped out in the 
centre something like shallow bowls. They are called 
trenchers. No forks either! We will eat with our fingers, 
as the others do. How good the food tastes! 

After dinner perhaps the family will let us go about 
and see them at work. They are very busy people. The 
farmers have to work very hard, for their soil is poor and 



A Blockhouse. 










THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS 75 

rocky. They also make most of their furniture, cooking 
utensils, and farming tools in the house or in little work- 



The Big Fireplace with Its High-backed Seat on Either Side. 


shops close by. They have omy the simplest tools and 

everything is crudely made. 

There are grist-mills to grind 


the corn and sawmills 























76 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

to saw the lumber, both run by the small streams which 
rush down the hillside. 

If the village is near the coast, we shall find some fisher¬ 
men who make their living by catching cod or whale. We 


From “ Domestic Architecture of the American Colonies," by Fiske Kimball. 

A Northern Home, Built in 1759. The Longfellow Home, Cambridge, Mass. 

shall also see some ship-building going on, for it is easy to 
get good timber in the large forests. 

The women, too, are veiy busy, for the mother 
does many things which nowadays are done outside 
the home. Besides cooking and keeping the house in 
order, she makes clothes for all the family, and even 
weaves the cloth in the first place! The wool and the 



















THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS 


77 


flax are raised on the little farm, and spun and woven 
by her into cloth. Perhaps she will turn the spinning- 
wheel for you, to show how the wool or flax is drawn out 
into long threads. How it whirs and hums! 



From “Domestic Architecture of the American Colonies," by Fiske Kimball. 


A Southern Home, Built About 1726. Westover, James City County, Va. 


WHAT THE BOYS AND GIRLS DO AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL 

Of course you will want to see what the children are 
doing. The girls help their mothers in many ways. They 
learn to cook, to mould candles, to make soap, to milk the 
cows, and to make butter and cheese. They work in the 
gardens, and pluck the geese to get feathers for pillows and 










78 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

feather-beds. They are also learning to spin, weave, dye, 
and make clothing. Perhaps you know more about books, 
but I doubt if you could keep house as well! 

The boys are as busy helping their fathers as the girls 
in helping their mothers. They chop and saw wood, plant 


The Spinning-wheel. 

and weed the field, feed the pigs, water the horses, clean 
the stables, and do many kinds of work which most of you 
boys know nothing about. 

The children go to school, too. As you remember, one 
reason why the Pilgrims left Holland was that they might 
bring up their children in their own way. From the first 
they have taken great pains to educate them. So have 













































THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS 


79 


the Puritans, and at a very early day public schools were 
started—so that every town has its school. 

It is kind of the children to ask us to visit their school- 
house. It does not 
look at all like your 
big building. It is a 
rude hut, and the 
seats are long slabs 
from sawed logs, with 
the flat side up, raised 
on sticks. There are 
no blackboards nor 
maps on the wall. The children have no slates and few 
pencils. Some of them are doing their sums on birch 
bark, for paper is very scarce. The boys and girls, at 
home and at school, have very few books. A Bible, a 
catechism, a hymn-book, and a primer are about all. 
Yet the children learn to read and write. 

WHAT A REAL PURITAN SABBATH IS LIKE 

Surely you will want to know how these children of 
long ago spent their Saturdays and Sundays. Saturday is 
a very busy day. Everything must be made ready for 
Sunday, because on that day no cooking is allowed and 
very little work of any kind. 

The Puritans are very strict about this. The minute 
the sun goes down their Sabbath begins. All work 







Their School-house Is a Rude Log Hut. 




80 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


and play must be put aside, for the Sabbath must be a 
day of rest. 

When nine o’clock in the morning comes, a drum, bell, 
or horn is sounded. Then each family starts for the meet¬ 
ing-house, the father and mother walking in front of their 
children. At church we shall see nearly every one who is 
not sick, for a man who stays away a month without a 
good reason is punished. If there is danger from Indians, 
a sentinel stands on guard at the door of the meeting-house, 
and each man sits with his gun beside him. The sermon 
is sometimes two or three hours long. The time is kept by 
an hour-glass, which the sexton turns at the end of eveiy 
hour. We are a little tired when the service is over. 

THE PURITANS ENJOY MANY PASTIMES 

But we must not think that the New England people 
spend all their time in work and worship. Life for the 
Puritan children is by no means without play. There is 
plenty of hunting and fishing, and in winter there are lively 
snowball fights, coasting, and skating. In summer the 
younger children roll hoops, spin tops, and play at leap¬ 
frog and seesaw. Indoors there are merrymakings with 
games like hide-and-go-seek and blind man’s buff. 

If the older people invite us to any of their gatherings, 
it will be to a house-raising or corn-husking party, or perhaps 
to a spinning-bee or a quilting-bee or an apple-paring. For 
they all have their good times helping each other in this way. 


THE PILGRIMS AND PURITANS 


81 


If we happen to be there at Thanksgiving time, which 
comes after the corn and pumpkins and apples are stored 
away for the winter, we shall find the table loaded with 
turkey, chicken, pudding, pies, nuts, raisins, and other 
good things that make us hungry even to name. 

How would you like to change places once in a while 
with these boys and girls of the New England of long ago ? 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Who were the Pilgrims? Why did they go to Holland, and why did 

they later come to New England? 

2. Imagine yourself coming over with them on the Mayflower, and tell 

about the stormy voyage. Why is a voyage to-day a pleasure with 
little danger and no hardships? Find on the map where the Pil¬ 
grims landed. 

3. Why did so many of the Pilgrim settlers die during the first winter 

at Plymouth? How did their difficulties compare with those of 
the Virginia settlers? 

4. What do you admire about the Pilgrims? 

5. Who were the Puritans, and why did they come to America? Find 

where they settled. 

6. In what respects were they like the Pilgrims? 

7. Why did they drive Roger Williams out of the colony? Do you think 

this was right? 

8. Where did he go then, and what did he do? What do you think of 

him? 

9. How did the New England boys and girls help their fathers and 

mothers ? 

10. Tell about their schools. Compare these with your school. 

11. Imagine yourself going to church in New England, and tell your 

classmates about what you see there. 


CHAPTER VII 


FROM HOLLAND THE DUTCH SEND HENRY HUDSON 
TO LOOK INTO THE NEW WORLD 

The Dutch, like other nations of Europe, wanted to in¬ 
crease their trade, and two years after the settlement of 
Jamestown they sent out Henry Hudson in search of an 
all-water route to the Indies. 

In April, 1609, with a crew of about twenty sailors, he 
sailed across the Atlantic in a little vessel called the Half 
Moon. He touched the shore of the New World near the 
mouth of the James River and, coasting along to the north, 
entered a broad inlet which he thought was a passage 
through America. It proved to be the mouth of a river, 
which later was named Hudson, after him. There, in Sep¬ 
tember, 1609, he cast anchor. 

The Indians, who were friendly and curious, came 
aboard. They took a great fancy to the knives and beads 
which Hudson had, and gave him tobacco-leaves in ex¬ 
change for them. 

After about ten days Hudson sailed up the river, still 
looking for the Northwest Passage. He went as far as 
what is now the city of Albany, but when he found that the 

river was not a strait, he turned back toward the open sea. 

82 


HENRY HUDSON 


83 


Although it was not his good fortune to discover the 
Northwest Passage, Hudson had found something else of 
great value: a place where the Dutch could make money 
in trade. For among the gifts which the Indians brought 
were the glossy brown skins of beavers, and at once a trade 
in these furs was begun. 

THE COMING OF DUTCH SETTLERS TO NEW NETIIERLAND 

The Dutch did not make a settlement right away, for 
they were not seeking homes 
like the people of Massa¬ 
chusetts and Maryland. 

They were thrifty traders 
who came and went between 
Holland and the New World 
simply to make money. 

Five years passed after 
Hudson sailed up the Hud¬ 
son River before even a fort 
was built at the south end 
of Man-hat'tan Island 
(1614). Around this a set¬ 
tlement slowly grew up, and the Dutch called it New Am 7 - 
ster-dam. They named the country New Neth'er-land, 
after their home land, just as the English settlers had 
named theirs New England. Not until 1623 did they at¬ 
tempt to plant a colony. 




84 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

Some of the newcomers settled on Manhattan Island, 
where New York now is; a few sailed up the Hudson and 

built a fort at Albany. Oth¬ 
ers built a fort on the Dela¬ 
ware River, and still another 
group settled across the East 
River on Long Island. A 
few sailed up the Connecticut 
and built a fort where Hart¬ 
ford was settled later. 

In 1G25 more emigrants 
came, and also two ships 
bringing cattle, horses, hogs, 
and sheep. Soon there were 
200 settlers in the colony. 

The next year Peter Min'- 
u-it, a good and just man, 
was made governor, and he 
managed very well. The settlers were contented, and the 
Indians, being fairly treated, were friendly. 

The governor bought from them the land which the 
settlers needed, and although he did not pay large sums, 
the Indians were satisfied. You will be surprised to know 
that for the whole island of Manhattan, where to-day land 
costs so much that buildings are carried up many stories 
into the air, Peter Minuit gave about twenty-four dollars’ 
worth of beads, colored cloth, and bits of glass! 



Indian Fur Trader. 



HENRY HUDSON 


85 


From the Indians the Dutch had nothing to fear. By 
fair dealing Hudson had won their good-will, and by the 
same kind of treatment the fur-traders had kept it. 

But there was still another reason why the powerful 
Ir'o-quois, who lived west of the Hudson, wanted to be 



Dutch Trading with the Indians. 


friends with the Dutch. It so happened that in the very 
same year in which Hudson was sailing north on Hudson 
River, Cham-plain', a French explorer, of whom we shall 
speak later, was coming south from Canada on the lake 
which now bears his name. 

He travelled with a band of sixty Al-gon'quin warriors, 
who were enemies of the Iroquois. To keep the Algon- 
quins friendly to himself, he joined them in an attack upon 
200 Iroquois on the shores of Lake Champlain. 








































86 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


They had never heard a gun before, and when Cham¬ 
plain fired and killed one or two of their chiefs, the rest 



Champlain Killed One or Two of Their Number. 


fled in panic. They never forgot this defeat. From that 
day the Iroquois hated the French, and were always glad 
to make them trouble and to kill them when they could. 












HENRY HUDSON 


87 


Now you understand why they wanted the help of the 
Dutch, and especially of their guns. 

Although the Indians made no trouble and Dutch ves¬ 
sels came and went, few people settled in New Netherland. 
The profits of the fur trade brought restless, roaming trad¬ 
ers, but not steady, home-making farmers, who were better 
off in their homes across the sea. 

THE PATROON SYSTEM IS NOT ATTRACTIVE TO SETTLERS 

To tempt farmers to go to New Netherland, the Dutch 
West India Company promised 
large tracts of land to any mem¬ 
bers of the company who would 
take over, in the next four years, 
fifty grown-up settlers. The land 
might extend along the Hudson or 
some other river for sixteen miles 
on one side, or for eight miles on 
both sides. It could also run back 
as far as the owner wished. He 
was called a patroon, and provid¬ 
ed houses, farms, tools, and cat¬ 
tle for the men who agreed to live 
on his estate. 

In return, the men promised to 
pay him a certain rent, and to remain on the farm where 
they were placed. This was fair, but there were some bad 






88 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


rules; for example, the men could not grind their corn 
except at the patroon’s mill, nor hunt, nor fish, without 
his permission. 

Yet, in spite of getting their land and houses for almost 


nothing, men with fami¬ 
lies were rather slow 
about coming to New 
Netherland. Other plans, 
then, had to be tried. 



In 1638 a most coax¬ 
ing scheme was set be¬ 
fore the people. Farm¬ 
ers with their families 
were to be carried across 
the Atlantic without 


* " " ^ 'jf, , 

In Early New Amsterdam. 


charge. Each man was to have the use of a farm with 
its house, barn, and tools. Horses, cattle, sheep, and 
hogs were to be provided. And, best of all, it was to be 
made easy for him to become the owner of his little 
estate in five years. 

This plan worked well. Settlers began to come in 
increasing numbers. And many were attracted by the 
liberal laws that let people worship as they pleased. 

Fifteen years after the first settlement, New Nether¬ 
land had about 10,000 people. Sixteen hundred lived in 
New Amsterdam, which was confined to that part of Man¬ 
hattan lying south of the present Wall Street. Later the 

























HENRY HUDSON 


89 


Hudson River came to be lined with the large estates of the 
patroons, stretching far back into the country. 

PETER STUYVESANT HAS HIS TROUBLES 

New Netherland had four Dutch governors. We have 
spoken of Peter Minuit, 
who set the government 
of the colony going; the 
last one was Peter Stuy've- 
sant. He was a very large 
man, haughty, and com¬ 
manding. He had been a 
brave soldier and had lost 
a leg in battle, so that now 
he stumped around on a 
wooden one. 

When he became gov¬ 
ernor of New Netherland 
he told the people he would rule them “as a father does 
his children.” The people thought this meant that he 
would be kind and gentle. But instead he treated them 
as if they could not think for themselves and had no rights 
of their own. At last he fell into trouble with the Swedes, 
who had settled along the Delaware River, and forced them 
to give up to the Dutch as masters of the country. 

This was not altogether a good thing for the colony. It 
had never been strong in a military way, and after fighting 



Peter Stuyvesant. 









90 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


the Swedes was weaker than ever in its means of defense. 
When a few years later (1664) an English war-fleet appeared 
in the harbor, the Dutch were powerless to drive it away. 

The commander of the English vessel sent an officer 
ashore demanding surrender. This was a complete sur- 



New Amsterdam 


prise to the Dutch, for it was an act of war, and at that 
time England and Holland, the mother countries, were at 
peace. 

The English had no good reason for making war, but 
they coveted New Netherland. They wanted to get con¬ 
trol of its trade, and of its fine harbor, the best on the 
Atlantic coast. 

Although the English force was much stronger than the 
Dutch, Governor Stuyvesant, brave old soldier that he 
was, begged the people to fight for the town. They would 
not support him, and he had to give up. The Dutch flag 
was pulled down, and the English flag raised in its place. 

New Netherland was now called New York, and was an 








































































HENRY HUDSON 


91 


English colony. Under the rule of the English it prospered 
and continued to grow. For a long time, however, more 
of the people were Dutch than English, and to this day 
many old Dutch families survive and are proud of their 
Dutch names. 



in 1673. 


A PICTURE OF LIFE IN NEW YORK IN EARLY COLONIAL 

DAYS 

Let us go on another make-believe journey, this time to 
early New York, and see how the people live. Here all is 
quite different from either New England or the South, 
because in those colonies most of the people are English, 
while here they are mostly Dutch. 

Some live in towns where trade is carried on. Yet 
many live on farms larger than those of New England, but 
not so large as the Southern plantations. 

In the towns we find a few cabins of early settlers, but 
most of the Dutch houses have stoops in front, where 
neighbors like to visit in a friendly way. The houses 


















































92 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


stand with their gabled ends toward the street, and at the 
back is a garden with vegetables and flower-beds. 

It is the fashion in New Amsterdam to sit outdoors as 
much as the weather allows, on the stoop, or in arbors or 
summer-houses in the gardens. The men smoke their 
pipes and tell stories while the women knit or sew. 

If we visit a patroon’s estate, we shall see, as we draw 
near, big windmills, like those in Holland, slowly turning 
their big white canvas sails in the wind. Near the grand 
house we shall find large gardens, bright with splendid 
tulips, lilies, and other beautiful blossoms, for the Dutch 
are very fond of flowers. 

As we enter, the huge fireplace reminds us of those we 
saw in New England. And we see again the spinning-wheel 
and hand-loom. But the rest of the rich furniture is large 
and heavy. The chief piece is the great chest of drawers 
and shelves set on casters. We are allowed to look in, and 
we see the finest pieces of family silver, choice dishes, and 
other costly treasures. There are other chests, too, some 
for linen and clothing. There is a small one of very hand¬ 
some wood with knobs of glass or silver or even gold. It is 
for trinkets and small pieces of tableware. 

But even in this handsome house we see no carpet. 
The floors are kept clean by constant scrubbing, and in 
some rooms they are sprinkled with sand made into straight 
or wavy lines by the broom. 

The table is loaded with good things to eat, for all 


HENRY HUDSON 


93 


Dutch women are noted for their cooking. There are 
crullers and cookies, tarts and jellies, cream dishes, pre¬ 
served fruits, and many other things which make us hungry 
to think about. To 
drink, there is butter¬ 
milk or beer. 

In the bedroom we 
see high beds showing 
finely carved legs and 
posts. Here are little 
steps up which you 
must mount if you are 
to sleep in this fine 
bed. Then down, 
down you will sink into 
the soft feathers, 
forgetting all about the 
world outside. 

Although the men of this colony seem slow and easy¬ 
going, nearly all are workers. They are honest and saving, 
and many have become rich. Perhaps the ship-owners 
and traders make the most money, for just as the South 
sends ship-loads of tobacco to Europe, so New York sends 
cargoes of fur in exchange for things made across the sea. 

The little Dutch children go to school, for from the first 
the settlers have taken much interest in having their chil¬ 
dren taught. 








94 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


There are more holidays here than in New England. 
The people take life more easily than the Puritans. They 
are fond of dress, of sports, and of merrymakings. In the 
country they go to spinning-bees, house-raisings, corn- 
huskings, and dancing-parties; in the towns they enjoy 
horse-racing, bowling, and picnics. 

They make much of Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter. 
They gave us our Santa Claus for Christmas; they started 
the custom of making calls upon New Year’s Day; they 
were the first to color eggs for Easter. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Find on the map the Northwest Passage to the Pacific. Why did 

early explorers fail to find it ? Why did the Dutch send out Henry 
Hudson? What did he discover? 

2. How did the Dutch win the good-will of the Indians? 

3. What mistake did Champlain make with the Iroquois, and how did 

the French suffer later for this mistake? 

4. Who were the patroons, and what did they do ? Why did the patroon 

system fail to attract settlers? 

5. Why were men with families rather slow about coming from Holland 

to New Netherland? 

6. What kind of man was Governor Stuyvesant, and what do you think 

of him ? 

7. Why was the name of the colony changed from New Netherland to 

New York? 

8. Tell all you can about the grand house of the patroon. How was it 

furnished? 

9. What have you learned about the Dutch cooking? 

10. Ask your classmates three questions about sports and holidays. 


CHAPTER VIII 


WILLIAM PENN PLANTS A COLONY FOR QUAKERS 

IN PENNSYLVANIA 

We have seen that the Pilgrims and Puritans went to 
New England, and the Catholics to Maryland, because 
they were punished at home for their religion. There were 
still other people living in England who were having a 
hard time because of the way they worshipped. 

One body of English people who insisted on their own 
way of worship called themselves “Friends.” By others 
they were nicknamed Qua'kers. 

Some of their customs were new and strange. For in¬ 
stance, they would not go to war, nor pay taxes to support 
war, because they believed it was wrong to fight. And 
because they believed all men were equal before the law, 
they would not doff their hats to any man, not even the 
king. Most of them also refused to wear fine clothing or 
adorn their houses because they believed in simple living. 

One of these Quakers, William Penn, was a rich man 
and the son of a powerful admiral. He did not go so far 
in his belief as some, for he wore handsome clothing and 
had a fine home. But he saw that the only way for his 
Quaker friends to have peace was to go to live in the New 

World, as others who suffered for their religion had done. 

95 


96 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

To cariy out his plan, he used his own large fortune. It 
happened that King Charles II owed Penn $80,000. But 
Penn saw a way for the king to get rid of the debt, and yet 

not pay out a penny. 

“ Will you give me 
land instead of mon¬ 
ey?” he asked. 

“ Willingly,” said 
the king. 

You see, the land 
had cost him nothing. 

So he set off for Penn 
a large tract lying 

west of the Delaware 
River, and called it 
Pennsylvania, which 
means “Penn’s 
woods.” Penn was so modest that he did not wish the 
country" named for himself. So the king said: “We will 
name it for your father.” 

The next year (1681), a colony of about 3,000 settled on 
the banks of the Delaware. In October of the year following 
Penn himself left England to join his colony. Bidding 
good-by to his wife and children, he sailed for America in 
the ship Welcome with one hundred passengers. Most of 
these were Quakers, who had been Penn’s neighbors in 
England. 



William Pena at the Age of 22 (1666). 


WILLIAM PENN 


97 


After a voyage of two months they landed at New'cas-tle, 
Delaware, where they were greeted with shouts of welcome. 
This was not his own colony, but some of those who came 



Copyright by Violet Oakley,,from a Copley print copyright by Curtis & Cameron. From the paint - 
ing in the Pennsylvania State Capitol. 

Charles II Signing the Charter of Pennsylvania. 


the year before had settled here, among the Swedes and 
Dutch. 

Penn sailed on up the Delaware River until he came to 
the mouth of the Schuyl'kill (skool'kill) River. Here he 
found a city laid out by those who had come before him. 







98 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


He named it Phil-a-del'phi-a, which means “City of 
Brotherly Love.” This name showed the feeling which 
Penn had for the settlers, and wished them to have for one 

another. 

Settlers came in such 
large numbers that 
houses could not be 
built fast enough. For 
a time some of them 
had to live in caves dug 
in the river-banks. The 
first houses were built 
of logs, and were very 
simple. They had only 
two rooms, and no 
floor except the bare ground. But in less than three years 
many houses of boards had been put up and some of the 
bright-red brick of which Philadelphia to-day has so many. 
The city grew rapidly, and so did the whole colony. 

This was partly because the Indians were friendly. 
Penn had made friends of them at the start. One day he 
held a meeting with them under the spreading branches of 
a large elm-tree, and together they smoked the pipe of 
peace. 

“The friendship between you and me,” said Penn, “is 
not like a chain, for the chain may rust; neither is it like a 
tree, for the falling tree may break. It is as if we were 



Cottage of William Penn, Fairmount Park, 
Philadelphia. 



















WILLIAM PENN 


99 


parts of one man’s body. A\ e are all one flesh and 
blood.” 

Of course these words pleased the Indians, for they 
had feelings very much like those of white men. They re¬ 
plied to Penn in words as kind as his own. Handing him 



William Penn’s Treaty with the Indians. 


a wampum belt of peace, they said: “We will live in love 
and peace with 'William Penn as long as the sun and moon 
shall last.” 

Penn paid the Indians for the land, although he had 
already paid the king a large sum, for he believed that the 
Indians had rights. He was always kind and honest in 
his dealings with them; and they, in their turn, were true 
to him. 





























100 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


In the course of years, settlers came in large numbers 
from many countries. Planted under more favorable con¬ 
ditions than the earliest colonies Pennsylvania grew rapidly. 
People liked to live where the laws were wise, and where 
they could worship as they pleased. This they could do in 
Pennsylvania, and the colony continued to prosper. 

A PICTURE OF LIFE IN EARLY PENNSYLVANIA 

If we go on a make-believe visit to early Pennsylvania, 
we shall find customs differing from those in the other colo¬ 
nies. At least a third of the people living in this colony 
are Quakers; but we learn that besides these there are many 
Germans and Scotch-Irish, and some from other countries, 
all of whom are thrifty home-makers. Many of the Germans, 
we are told, have gone to live on the western border, where 
they continue to speak their own language. 

Most of the houses in Philadelphia are built of brick or 
stone, and some have balconies. They look most attrac¬ 
tive, set in the midst of gardens and apple and peach or¬ 
chards. We notice about the city and along the roads 
which lead into the country rows of tall, straight Lombardy 
poplars. Penn first set the fashion for these trees. He 
planted an avenue of them on his estate, Pennsbury Manor, 
situated about thirty miles north of Philadelphia on the 
Delaware River. 

We take horses, and following the road into the coun¬ 
try we see a few miles out from the city fine country houses. 


<■ <> •) 


WILLIAM PENN 


101 


They are surrounded by beautiful cedars, pruned into cones 
and pyramids, and have gardens carefully laid out in walks 
and alleys. 

As we saunter along, the farmhouses look most com¬ 
fortable. The better ones are of stone, and there is always 
a smoke-house and one or more very large barns. Beside 
each house we notice a little clay oven for baking; and often 
near by on a hillside there is a spring-house with a flat rock, 
over which cool spring water is flowing. Here, we are told, 
stand crocks of milk and jars of butter, and sometimes 
watermelons, cooling for midday refreshment, when the sun 
is very hot. 

Returning from our ride, we go to the house where we 
are to spend a few days. Passing up the marble steps, we 
sound the knocker, and are invited into a room where the 
neatly sanded floor and spinning-wheel tell of order and 
industry in the home. The family welcomes us cordially, 
and on the evening of our arrival we mingle with other 
guests at dinner, all sitting at a long table loaded with good 
things to eat. Fat oysters from the near-by Chesapeake, 
soup, boned turkey, roast duck, veal, and beef are followed 
by several kinds of pie and pudding, jelly and preserves, 
then nuts, raisins, apples, and oranges. 

This is but one example of the whole-hearted hospitality 
of the Pennsylvania settlers. Another is noted in a beau¬ 
tiful custom in the thinly settled parts of the colony, where 
there are no inns and the houses are far apart. There the 


102 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

leading families on the main roads build a log fire at night 
in the great hall, set a table with food, and leave the front 
door unbarred so that tired and hungry travellers may enter 
and find rest and refreshment. 

During our stay in Philadelphia we are invited by our 
kind hosts to join them in a visit to the famous Penn Char¬ 
ter School. One of the teachers tells us that there are few 
schools out in the country, but that some of the Scotch- 
Irish and German ministers teach the children of their 
congregations. 

On the streets we see many people and on the river 
many vessels which are unloading cargoes at the wharfs, 
for much trading is carried on here. It is a busy scene. 
As we walk along, we notice street pumps and public bakeries. 
On Market Square stand the meeting-house and the public 
market, a long building, open at either end and with stalls 
on the sides. 

The market is held every week on Wednesday and Satur¬ 
day and is a justly famed feature of the colony. Here the 
thrifty housewife, with a basket on her arm, or attended by 
a maid with a basket, may be seen, in the early morning 
hours, buying household supplies. Meat, poultry, vegeta¬ 
bles, fruit, milk, and butter are all of the first quality, for 
they have been produced on dairy-farms and by families 
near the city, who have been carrying on the business for 
many years. 

While most of the people are farmers, working their own 


WILLIAM PENN 


103 


farms with the aid of their families and some hired help, 
there are also traders in fur and iron, ship-builders, manu¬ 
facturers of cloth, paper, and glass, and workers in other 
industries. 

The Pennsylvania colonists are serious people and are 
hard workers, but they have many forms of amusement. 
Among these are horse-racing, bull-baiting, tavern parties, 
balls, and picnics for the townsfolk; while the young people 
in the country enjoy such pastimes as corn-huskings, house- 
raisings, and spinning-bees. All, whether living in town or 
country, have their sleighing-parties in winter, which some¬ 
times end with supper at a tavern. 

We shall long remember our pleasant visit to early Penn¬ 
sylvania, where the people made us feel so much at home. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell about the customs of the Quakers. 

2. Who was William Penn? Why did he wish to make a settlement in 

America? Show on the map the position of the first settlement 

in Pennsylvania. 

3. How did Penn treat the Indians, and how did they treat him? 

4. Why did the colony grow rapidly? 

5. What have you learned about the houses the colonists built in early 

Pennsylvania and the trees they planted ? 

6. Imagine yourself a guest at a dinner-party, and tell all you can about 

the food that was served. 

7. In an imaginary walk through the streets of Philadelphia mention 

some of the interesting things you see. 

8. Give an account of-a beautiful custom that grew up for the enter¬ 

tainment of tired and hungry travellers in the thinly settled regions. 

9. In what ways did the people of early Pennsylvania amuse themselves? 

10. How do you think you would have enjoyed living in that colony? 


CHAPTER IX 


JACQUES CARTIER, CHAMPLAIN, FATHER MARQUETTE, 

AND LA SALLE EXPLORE FOR FRANCE THE GREAT 

INLAND WATERWAYS OF NORTH AMERICA 

Thus far nothing has been said about the work of the 
French explorers, but France took her part in the struggle 
for wealth and power which all were seeking. 

In 1534 she sent Jacques Cartier (zahk car-ty-a'), a 
bold and skilful sea-captain, to search for the Northwest 
Passage to China. He sailed along the coast of north¬ 
eastern America, passed into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and 
carried back to France a full report of what he had seen. 

The following year he made another voyage, this time 
up the St. Lawrence, and landed at a little Indian village 
where Que-bec' now stands. Leaving enough men to 
guard his fleet, he pushed on up-stream in small boats until 
he came to another Indian village with a very steep hill 
back of it. He named it Mont-re-al', which is French for 
“ royal mountain.” 

After a brief stay the French returned to Quebec. 
There they spent a terrible winter, and in the spring Car- 
tier was glad to go back to France. Five years later he 
tried to plant a colony at Quebec, but once more he failed. 

104 


JACQUES CARTIER 


105 


CHAMPLAIN EARNS THE TITLE OF FATHER OF U NEW 

France” 


It was a long time before the French tried again to set¬ 
tle in Canada. Then, in 1608, Champlain, of whom we 



Cartier Arriving at Montreal. 


have already spoken, planted a colony at Quebec. This 
was the first permanent French settlement in America, and 
was one year later than the settlement of the English at 
Jamestown. 

For twenty-seven years Champlain as governor devoted 
his best strength and energy to the good of the colony. 
During his term of service many forts and trading-posts 
were built in Canada to establish the claims of France in 







106 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


the New World. He well earned the title, “ Father of New 
France/’ which histoiy has given him. 

At first the French came in small numbers. They were 
mostly traders in furs, although some made a living by cod¬ 
fishing and some by farming. They were very friendly 
with the Indians. They joined them in their sports and 
in their ways of living. They sometimes even married 
Indian squaws. 

Besides the trader and the soldier, there were in the 
French settlements many Catholic priests. Some were 
Jes'u-its. These men did not come to the New World to 
make money, but to make Christians of the Indians and to 
extend the power of their church and their country. Many 
of them were very helpful in the work of exploration. 

They went from village to village through the wild forest 
and over streams and lakes, carrying their message of re¬ 
ligion and making notes of what they saw and heard. They 
passed through many dangers; often they suffered from 
hunger and cold. Some of them were cruelly tortured, and 
others were burnt at the stake. But those who were spared 
kept faithfully on with their good work, planting mission 
stations wherever they could throughout the wilderness. 

FATHER MARQUETTE MAKES A VOYAGE OF EXPLORATION 

DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI 

One of these brave priests was Father Mar-quette'. 
He came to Canada nearly sixty years after Champlain 


JACQUES CARTIER 


107 


made the settlement at Quebec. From there he went far 
to the west ; and on the north side of the Strait of Mack'i-nac 
built a little bark chapel ; where he worked faithfully to make 
Christians of the red men. 

One day an Indian hunter 
told him of a great river lying 
still farther to the west. Father 
Marquette kept thinking of it 
as the possible passage to the 
Pacific which all were seeking, 
and of the work he might do in 
the Indian villages along its 
banks. He longed to go in 
search of it, and got permission 
from the governor, who sent 
with him Lou'is Jo'li-et, a fur 
trader. 

In May, 1673, with five 
trained woodsmen, they started 
on their long journey. Embarking in canoes on Lake 
Michigan, they passed on to the head of Green Bay, and, 
entering Fox River, soon came upon an Indian town. 
Here they asked for guides, who showed them the way 
through the forest to the Wis-con'sin River. 

A week later they entered the mighty Mississippi, of 
which the Indians far back in Mackinac had told them. 
No white man had ever been there before. 







108 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


Continuing their journey, they made their way slowly 
down-stream until they reached the mouth of the Arkansas. 
Here they stopped at an Indian village, where they were 
told that the Mississippi flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, 
and not into the Pacific Ocean. The stream, therefore, was 
not the passage which they were seeking. Still farther 
down the river they visited other Indian villages, but as 
the natives were not friendly and as they had found out 
what they wanted to know, they decided to return. 

When they reached Green Bay, after an absence of four 
months, they had made a journey of more than 2,500 miles, 
and had given France a claim to vast territory on the ground 
that Frenchmen had discovered it. 

ROBERT CAVELIER, SIEUR DE LA SALLE, HAS GREAT 

AMBITIONS 

The story of Marquette’s voyage made a stir in France. 
Already the French had control of the St. Lawrence River. 
If now they could get control of the Mississippi also, they 
might build up a trade which would make France a very 
rich nation. 

To carry out this purpose, a young Frenchman, Robert 
Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, gave the best years of his life. 
But it was not so much trade as the thought of power that 
led him on. He had hopes, too, of finding the Northwest 
Passage. His plan was twofold: to build a chain of trad¬ 
ing-posts along the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi 



Map Showing Routes of Cartier, Champlain, and La Salle, also French and English 
Possessions at the Time of the Last French War. 













110 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


River, and to plant a French colony and fort at the mouth 
of the Mississippi. 

After long and careful preparation he built a small 
vessel, the Griffin, on the Ni-ag'a-ra River, to carry him 
and his crew through the lakes on their way to the Mis¬ 
sissippi. 

They started in August, 1679, and after a stormy voy¬ 
age reached Green Bay in September. Here La Salle found 
a large quantity of furs, which some of his men had gone 
ahead to collect for him. He loaded them on the Griffin 
and sent her back to Niagara but he never heard from her 
again. 

Then paddling down the west shore of Lake Michigan 
as far as the St. Joseph River, they landed and built a fort. 
Leaving supplies, they went overland to the U-li-nois' coun¬ 
try, where they built another fort. But beyond this point 
there were delays and disappointments which greatly hin¬ 
dered La Salle in pushing forward the plan. 


FOR FRANCE LA SALLE CLAIMS THE VALLEY OF THE 
MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND THE RIVER ITSELF 

Not until two years and a half after his first start in 
the Griffin could La Salle begin his adventure on the Mis¬ 
sissippi, the great father of waters. Meantime he had 
endured many hardships and trials. 

But at last, in February, 1682, with twenty-three 


JACQUES CARTIER 


111 


Frenchmen and thirty-one Indians, he began his voyage 
down the river. The little fleet of bark canoes made a 



In the Name of the French King, He Planted a Column and a Cross. 


picture far different from the one he had in mind when 
building the Griffin. 

After some weeks he landed at the Gulf of Mexico and 
in the name of the French king he planted a column and a 







112 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


cross, claiming all the land drained by the Mississippi 
River and its branches. He called the land Lou-is'i-an'a, 
in honor of Louis XIV, King of France. 

La Salle had now carried out the first part of his plan— 

to build forts and 
trading-posts along 
the river. It re¬ 
mained to found a 
colony at its mouth. 
To get help, he 
must go to the court 
of France. There 
his plan met with 
favor, and with men 
and supplies he 
sailed back to 
America in the sum¬ 
mer of 1684. But 
in landing he missed 
the mouth of the 
Mississippi, and 
went ashore some 400 miles to the west, where he built a fort. 

Then troubles came thick and fast. The Indians at¬ 
tacked him. From lack of food, many of his men fell sick 
and died. He was the only one who did not lose heart. 
To save the colony he resolved to go overland to Canada 
for supplies, and in January, 1687, with seventeen men and 



For Sixty-five Days This Painful Journey Lasted. 



























JACQUES CARTIER 


113 


five horses, he started on the long, perilous journey. The 
men were afraid of the trackless forest. To them it meant 
disease, famine, Indians, wild beasts, and heat or cold too 
hard to bear. They cared nothing for La Salle. They 
had already suffered so much in following him that they 
had even come to hate him. 

Since there was no other escape from their daily misery, 
they planned to murder their heroic leader; and one morn¬ 
ing, as he came forward to speak, one of them fired the 
fatal shot. This was about two months after they had 
left the fort. 

Such was the end of one of the bravest and boldest of 
the French explorers. Although he was not able to carry 
out his plans completely, he did a great service to his country. 
He gave France her right to claim a large part of the Amer¬ 
ican continent. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. What was Cartier trying to find ? What did he accomplish ? 

2. Trace on the map the inland waterways Father Marquette explored. 

What claims did France make as a result of his discoveries ? 

3. What do you admire in him? 

4. What two great plans did La Salle wish to carry out, and why ? How 

far was he successful? 

5. Why did he return to France, and where did he go after coming back 

to America ? 

6. Why did his men kill him? 

7. What do you think of him? 

8. Point out on the map the territorial claims France made on account 

of La Salle’s explorations? 


CHAPTER X 


THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH BECOME 
RIVALS IN NORTH AMERICA 

We have seen how the French planted trading-posts 
and built forts along the Great Lakes and the Mississippi 
River. As they had other forts along the St. Lawrence, 
they had control of the two largest river valleys in America. 
The French claimed also the Ohio River valley, but so did 
the English. 

In order to make good their claims, the English formed 
the Ohio Company and began to send out settlers to oc¬ 
cupy the land. Then the French hastened to put up forts 
in the same region. One of their forts was quite near the 
place where the city of Erie now stands. Two others were 
farther south along the Allegheny River. 

When the people of Virginia found out what the French 
were doing, the governor sent a messenger to warn them 
that they were building forts on English land. The person 
chosen to carry this message was George Wash'ing-ton. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON MAKES HIS FIRST APPEARANCE IN 

AMERICAN HISTORY 

Who was this young man, and why did the governor 
trust him with an errand so important? 

114 


THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 


115- 



He was bom on February 22, 1732, the son of a rich 
planter whose lands lay along the Potomac River. At an 
early age he was sent to a school near by, where he learned 
a little reading, 
writing, and 
ciphering. That 
does not seem 
a great deal to 
us, but it was a 
good beginning. 

George had 
great fun at all 
kinds of boyish 
sports, such as 
running, leap¬ 
ing, and wres¬ 
tling, and easily 
led in them, for 
he was strong 
and rugged. He 
was a leader be¬ 
cause he played 

fair and was truthful. He was a very careful boy, and 
neat about his work. “ Whatever is worth doing at all 
is worth doing well ” was his motto, and he stuck to it 
through life. 

As he grew up, his love of outdoor life took him often 


They Often Spent the Afternoons in Fox-hunting. 







116 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


to the woods and the fields, and made him enjoy a good 
gallop on horseback. This led, perhaps, to his interest 
in surveying, of which there was much need at that time. 
Washington learned to do this—that is, to measure off 
land, one man’s from another’s—and his careful habits as 
a boy helped him as a surveyor. 

Near by his home at Mount Vernon lived an English 
gentleman, Lord Fair'fax. This tall, slender, white-haired 
man of sixty took a great liking to the manly youth of 
sixteen, and a friendship was begun which kept the two 
together much of the time. They often spent the morn¬ 
ings in surveying and the afternoons in fox-hunting. 

Lord Fairfax trusted his young friend, and when he 
needed some one to survey land far out beyond the Blue 
Ridge Mountains, he chose Washington. 

Washington was at this time barely sixteen. Yet with 
one companion a few years older, he started out, both 
youths on horseback. They carried guns, because they 
would need them not only to protect themselves from wild 
beasts and Indians but also to kill game; for while they 
were away from home they would have to depend mainly 
upon hunting for their supply of food. 

Washington’s account of the journey gives many pic¬ 
tures in his own words. Now we see him and his companion 
riding along through the unbroken forest with no path 
except, perhaps, the trail of Indians or wild animals. Then 
we see them spending the night in a woodsman’s cabin, 


THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 


117 


with nothing but a mat of straw for a bed and a single 
blanket for covering. Again they are making a large fire. 
Each is his own cook. Their spits are forked sticks, and 
their plates are large chips. 

There were many dangers and hardships, but in meet¬ 
ing them Washington was becoming more manly and learn¬ 
ing many things which, as a future leader of men, he would 
have to know. He was coming close to the Indians, trad¬ 
ers, and woodsmen, and learning to understand them. 

He was also becoming better known to the men of his 
own colony, who were going to need him. One of those 
who were watching him was the governor of Virginia. 
Now can you guess why, some years after he returned from 
this trip, young George Washington was the one picked 
out to bear the message to the commander of the French 
forts ? 

It was in the autumn of 1753 that Washington started 
on that dangerous journey to the Ohio valley. With only 
seven companions he set out through the thick forests. They 
had to push through the deep snows in the midst of heavy 
storms. Many times there was not even the trail of Indians 
nor the path of wild beasts to guide them. 

It was December when they reached the French fort, 
about fifteen miles south of Lake Erie. Washington gave 
the governor's message, and received an answer from the 
French commander, who promised nothing. Then, with 
one faithful woodsman, he started back home. On the way 


118 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


they passed through many dangers. Once an Indian shot 
at Washington, and came near killing him. At another 
time, he had a narrow escape from drowning, for when they 
came to the Allegheny River, which they had to cross, 
it was broken up into great blocks of floating ice. 

There was but one thing to do. Taking turns with the 
only hatchet they had, they spent a day in making a raft. 
Then they launched it. 

The swirling blocks of ice lunged at their craft, and 
many times it seemed as if it must go under. Once 
Washington’s foot slipped. It was a desperate moment, 
but he caught himself up, and at last they touched the 
shore. 

The night was bitter cold, but they dared not build a 
fire for fear of the Indians. When morning came, the hands 
and feet of Washington’s companion were frozen. How 

they must have suffered! 

%/ 

After an absence of more than two and a half months, 
they reached home. But their mission was not successful, 
for the answer which Washington brought from the French 
made it plain that they did not intend to leave the Ohio 
country. 


THE LAST FRENCH WAR BEGINS 

At once the Ohio Company sent out a party of men to 
build a log fort, at the place (now Pittsburg) where two 
rivers unite to form the Ohio. Shortly afterward Washing- 


THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 


119 


ton himself was sent with a body of soldiers to defend it. 
But before it could be built, French troops came down 
from Canada in canoes and drove away the workmen. 

The French calmly finished the fort for themselves, and 
called it Fort Duquesne (du-can'). Then a large body of 
French soldiers advanced to meet Washington, defeated 
him in a battle at Great 
Meadows, and forced him 
to march back to Vir¬ 
ginia. 

This was in the spring 
of 1754. The war to decide 
who owned the Ohio valley 
had begun, and soon grew 
into a war which would 
decide who owned the 
greater part of North 
America. 

As you remember, the English settlements were all 
along the Atlantic coast, while most of the French were in 
Canada. There were fifteen times as many English set¬ 
tlers as there were French; but while the French were united 
under one governor, the English were in thirteen separate 
groups, each having its own governor. In order to cany 
on the war successfully, it was necessary for the English 
colonies to find some way of working together. 







120 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


BENJAMIN FRANKLIN PROPOSES A “ PLAN OF UNION 

One of their leading men proposed a plan. His name 
was Ben r ja-min Frankdin, and he was truly a great man. 
He had such an important part in the life of the colonies 

that we should know something 
about him. His father was a can¬ 
dle-maker, and when Benjamin 
was only ten he went to work in 
his father’s shop. Here he did 
such things as cutting wicks for 
the candles, filling the moulds 
with tallow, selling soap in the 
shop, and acting as errand-boy. 
Although he was faithful in 
Benjamin Franklin. all his work, he did not enjoy 

doing these things, for he was 
fond of being outdoors and near the water. He could 
swim and row and sail boats better than most of the 
boys. 

He had good habits. He was never idle, because he 
put a high value upon time. He never spent money fool¬ 
ishly, because he knew the easiest way to make money 
was to save what he had. 

He was very fond of‘books and reading. On that ac¬ 
count his father put him into a printer’s shop owned by 
his older brother in Boston. But Benjamin thought his 



THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 


121 


brother was not quite fair to him, and he set out to seek his 
fortune alone. He was then seventeen. 

He went to Philadelphia, where most of his life was 
spent. An amusing story is told of how he looked to his 
future wife when he first arrived in that city. Look it 
up and tell it to your teacher. 

Years after this he set up in the printing business for 
himself. But in order to do it, he had to borrow money. 
He worked early and late to pay off the debt, and some¬ 
times even made his own ink and cast type with his own 
hands. But no matter where he was, or how hard he had to 
work, he always found time to read and improve his mind. 

Here are some of the rules he made: “Be orderly 
about your work. Do not waste anything. Never be 
idle. When you decide to do anything, do it with a brave 
heart.’ 7 Some of these rules appeared in an almanac which 
he published and called “Poor Richard’s Almanack.” 
People liked it very much, and it became well known 
everywhere. 

Franklin also liked to make things that were useful in 
the home. Perhaps you have seen a Franklin stove. This 
invention was so much better than the open fireplace that 
it soon came to be widely used. But the most wonderful of 
all the things he did was to prove that e-lec-tric'i-ty was the 
same thing as the lightning we see in the clouds. 

You would hardly expect a man of these tastes to be the 
one to work out a plan to unite the English colonies. Yet 


122 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


it was he who, clearly seeing that the English colonies, 
would be much stronger if they would work together, pro¬ 
posed in 1754 his “Plan of Union.” It was not approved 
by the colonies, for they were not far-sighted enough to see 
its value, but it was a step toward the union which came 
later. 


ENGLAND HELPS THE COLONIES 

In 1755 England sent out help to her colonies. General 
Brad'dock with a large number of English troops came over, 
and made plans to march against Fort Duquesne. He in¬ 
vited Washington to be one of his aids. 

Braddock’s task was a hard one. He had to cut a 
road through the forest much of the way, and at the same 
time fight the Indians. He was used to making war in 
the open fields of Europe, but of this woodland warfare he 
knew nothing. 

Washington warned him to be on the lookout against 
the Indian way of fighting. But he thought he knew more 
about the business of war than young Washington, and he 
paid no attention to this warning. 

After many toilsome days of marching, at last, when 
within eight miles of the French fort, they had a battle. 
First they suddenly saw a man bounding along the pathway 
just ahead. He was dressed like an Indian. Catching 
sight of the British army, he turned and waved his hat. 
At once a body of French soldiers and Indian warriors 


THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 


123 



dashed out from the underbrush, and a hideous war-whoop 
rent the air. 

Then, as suddenly as they had come, the French and 
the Indians vanished. They had run back and, hiding 
behind trees and bushes where Braddock and his men could 


Braddock's Toilsome March through the Wilderness. 

not see them, they shot down the English by hundreds. 
Braddock’s men could only fire blindly into the dense 
forests. They could not see a single man. After two hours 
of fighting, the English threw away their guns and fled for 
their lives. 

Braddock fought bravely. So did Washington. Two 
horses were shot from under him, and four bullets tore 
through his clothing, but he was not hurt. Seven hundred 












124 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


men were either killed or wounded; among them Braddock 
himself; who received a mortal wound. 

The defeat was a hard one. If AVashington had not 
managed to get the army back; it would have been even 
worse. Such was the result of the first real battle of the 
Last French AVar. 

THE ENGLISH BEGIN TO WIN 

For the next three years the French got the best of the 
fighting. But in 1758 and 1759 the English began to win. 
They drove the French from Fort Duquesne and named 
it Fort Pitt, after AVilliam Pitt ; who was then at the head 
of affairs in England. At the north they also drove the 
French from their strongholds on Lake George and Lake 
Champlain. 

They next set out to conquer the French in the St. 
Lawrence valley. To do this ; they had to capture Quebec, 
the most important French stronghold on the St. Lawrence 
River. 

GENERAL WOLFE IS SELECTED TO CONQUER THE FRENCH 
IN THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY 

For the great task AVilliam Pitt picked out James 
AA r olfe, who became the hero of Quebec. He is, indeed, one 
of the heroes of the world. He was thirty-two years old. 
To look at him you would never imagine that he was a 
soldier. He was tall and thin, with narrow shoulders and 


THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 


125 


frail body. His hair was red and his face plain, but his 
beautiful eyes were full of thought and showed a fearless 
spirit. 

His health was never robust. As a child he had often 
been sick, and he was now suffering from a disease which 
must soon have ended his life. But he had an iron will and 
a strong wish to serve his country in some way. 

Although he had a hot temper, his tender, frank nature 
helped him to make friends and keep them. His soldiers 
loved him and were willing to follow him through any 
dangers, even to death. 

In June, 1759, Wolfe with an army of nearly 9,000 men 

cast anchor in the St. Lawrence River, not far from Quebec. 

The town stood on a rocky cliff 200 feet above the river, 

and Wolfe saw from the first that it would not be an easv 

%/ 

place to capture. 

There were many hardships to endure. The intense 
heat and drenching rains made his soldiers sick. Wolfe 
himself became ill with fever. But he would not give up. 
Although in great pain most of the time, he went from tent 
to tent among his men, trying to give them courage. 

He said to his doctor: “I know you cannot cure me. 
But pray make me up so that I can be without pain for a 
few days, and able to do my duty. That is all I want.” 
You see he feared that he would not live long enough to 
finish his task. 

At last, after much waiting and searching, he discovered 


126 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


a pathway up the steep cliff leading to the fort. Then he 
knew that the best way to defeat Montcalm, the French 
commander, was to get the English army up to the plain 
by this pathway. 

WOLFE CAPTURES QUEBEC 

Wolfe took a number of men in boats up the river to a 
point nine miles above the place where he intended to make 
the attack. Two hours after midnight, on September 13, 
the signal was given for the advance. It was a clear, star¬ 
lit night, but as there was no moon the English were hidden 
in darkness while they moved slowly down the river. 

Let us imagine ourselves standing by Wolfe’s side as 
the boats float quietly down the stream. He is speaking in 
low tones. We listen closer. He is repeating the words of 
a poem that he loves. One line seems to make him sad: 
“The paths of glory lead but to the grave.” He has come 
to the end. He pauses and says gently: “Gentlemen, I 
would rather have written those lines than take Quebec.” 

After landing, the English struggled up the great cliff. 
Each man, with musket over his shoulder, had to pull him¬ 
self up by clinging to the trees and bushes. But by six 
o’clock in the morning Wolfe had his army drawn up in 
line ready for battle. It had been an anxious night for the 
sick young English general. 

But it was no less so for Montcalm. Though not sick 
in body, he was sick at heart. He was fighting for a losing 


THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 


127 


cause, and he knew it. He had not men enough to defend 
the city, he was short of supplies, and the people of the city 
did not stand by him. He had not taken off his clothes 
to rest since the 23d of June. 

About six o’clock that morning he heard musket-shots 
and the firing of cannon. Mount¬ 
ing his black horse, he rode at 
once toward Quebec. When he 
saw in the distance the British 
soldiers drawn up in red ranks, 
he said to an officer who was rid¬ 
ing by his side: “This is a serious 
business.” 

At ten o’clock the French advanced upon the English. 
The struggle was a bitter one, and the French lost the 
battle. 

Wolfe was struck by three bullets, the last of which 
brought him to the earth. Then four of his men bore him 
tenderly and lovingly to the rear. A moment later some 
one said: “They run! See how they run!” The dying 
man opened his eyes as if waking from a deep sleep, and 
said: “Who runs?” “The enemy, sir. Egad, they give 
way everywhere.” “Now,” said Wolfe, as he breathed his 
last, “God be praised; I will die in peace.” 

Montcalm also received a mortal wound. But, sup¬ 
ported by his soldiers, he kept his saddle as he rode through 
the town. When told that he could not live many hours, 






128 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


he said: “So much the better. Thank God, I shall not live 
to see Quebec surrendered.” 

Five days later Quebec passed out of the hands of the 
French into the hands of the English. Not even then, how¬ 
ever, did France give way; for a while it seemed almost as 
if she might get back at least her own lands. But it was 
too late. By the treaty of peace, in 1763, she gave up to 
Spain the land between the Mississippi River and the Rocky 
Mountains, and to England she gave up Canada and the 
land east of the Mississippi. 

North America was now in the hands of England and 
Spain, and England had control of all the land east of the 
Mississippi except Florida. 

LIFE IN THE SPANISH MISSIONS OF CALIFORNIA 

About the time that the English and the French were 
striving for mastery in the country east of the Mississippi, 
Spanish missionaries were making conquests of another kind 
in the land bordering on the Pacific coast. Six years after 
the Last French War the first Spanish mission in California 
was founded at San Diego (1769). Before the close of the 
century, seventeen more were established, and still later 
three others, making twenty-one in all. At that time this 
vast territory belonged to Spain. 

The Franciscan priests, who had charge of the missions, 
were called padres, which is the Spanish word for fathers, 
and the converted Indians were called “neophytes.” While 


THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 


129 



the purpose of the padres was to make the Indians good 
Christians, Spain was expecting that the missions would pre¬ 
pare the territory 
for colonies. 

The twenty-one 
missions extended 
from San Diego on 
the south to Sono¬ 
ma, not far beyond 
San Francisco on 
the north, forming 
a chain 700 to 800 
miles long. They 
were vast estates, 
some of them cov¬ 
ering forty square 
miles in area; not 
much like the 
small farms nes¬ 
tling among the 
hills and valleys of 
New England nor 
even like the large tobacco plantations in Virginia. 

The mission buildings were in the form of a quadrangle 
around a cloistered court with gardens. Sometimes there 
were beautiful* flowers in the gardens and a fountain playing 
in the centre. The building included apartments for the 


From “ Romantic Californiaby Ernest Peixotto. 

The Mission, Santa Barbara. 





130 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


padres, workshops, storerooms, hospitals and rooms for the 
married Indians. The whole was enclosed by a high fence 
or wall. 

But we almost forget to think of the size of the missions 
and mission buildings when we come to know something 
about the people who lived in them—hundreds and even 
thousands of Indian converts, and the devoted missionaries 
who for years guided and controlled them. Would you not 
like to learn more about their daily life? 

Let us make the journey and see for ourselves what a 
California mission really was. On a beautiful summer after¬ 
noon when the sun is nearing the western horizon, we are 
riding along a rough, dusty road. Having travelled all day, 
a distance of over thirty miles, we notice with pleasure that 
we are approaching a group of buildings in a valley. Their 
snow-white walls and red-tiled roofs have an air of comfort, 
and we urge our horses forward, for we know that what we 
see is a mission and that there we shall receive a friendly 
welcome. 

According to their custom, the padres greet us cordially, 
set excellent food before us, and provide restful beds where 
we shall sleep quietly after we have given our kind hosts 
news from the outside world. They consider such news a 
sufficient return for their hospitality, because it is mainly 
from the chance traveller that they learn what is taking 
place in other lands. 

After much good talk and gossip, we retire at nine o’clock, 


THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 


131 



for that is the hour when the iron gates are locked and all 
the Indians are supposed to be in bed. We know, too, that 
the rising bell will ring early, and we plan to observe the 
life of the mission 
throughout the 
day. 

The angelus 
awakens us at sun¬ 
rise to attend morn¬ 
ing prayers. Qui¬ 
etly we follow, as 
the Indians pass 
into the church for 
the hour of service 
and instruction. 

The second 
ringing of the bell 
is the call for 

breakfast, which consists of a thick barley or corn-meal gruel. 

At the end of about three-quarters of an hour the bell 
rings again and the Indians go in groups to their various 
tasks. We notice that with them there are soldiers who 
seem to be overseers. The soldiers are stationed at the mis¬ 
sions by the government to protect them against attack 
from without and to keep good order among the Indians. 

Let us visit the different groups in turn, going first to the 
women’s quarters. Some are spinning wool and weaving it 


From “ Romantic Californiaby Ernest Peixotto. 

The Mission Bells. 















132 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


into blankets of bright colors; some are making clothing of 
the blankets, for the women make all the clothing worn 
by the Indians in the missions; and some are knitting, or 
embroidering beautiful altar-cloths, for, although the living 
quarters of the priests are very plain, the churches are 
adorned with rich furnishings. 

We catch the fragrance of roasting grain, and turn to 
see a group pounding or crushing barley and corn into meal 
for the gruel which is so important an article of diet. The 
kitchen is even more attractive, because there the women 
are making cakes of chocolate and other dainties; you see, 
the padres lived well. 

In the many shops Indians are working at various trades 
under the instruction of skilled artisans who have been 
brought to the mission for that purpose. There are masons, 
carpenters, blacksmiths, and coopers. Some are tanning 
hides for leather; others are making the finished leather in¬ 
to shoes or bridles. It will interest you to know that all the 
work of building the missions was done by the Indians, and 
also that they built the little huts and adobe cabins in which 
married Indians lived outside the mission enclosure. 

Leaving these hives of industry, we pass on to the open 
fields, where hundreds of Indians are raising vegetables and 
fruit in the gardens and orchards. We see plum, peach, and 
apple trees, with their ripening fruit; orchards of silver¬ 
leaved olive-trees; fragrant orange and lemon groves; vine¬ 
yards of grapes; and acres of golden, shimmering grain. We 


THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 


133 


see, also, thousands of horses, cows, mules, and sheep grazing 
peacefully in the fields. It is indeed a delightful picture. 

Under watchful masters the work goes on quietly and 
steadily until at eleven o’clock the ringing of a bell from the 
mission belfry announces the midday meal. Again all have 
the same food, a kind of gruel, much like that eaten in the 
morning, but made thicker by the addition of peas, beans, 
lentils, or meat. 

At two o’clock the bell again summons to work, and as 
the hot afternoon wears on, mules are sent into the fields 
bearing jars of sweetened water and vinegar to refresh the 
workers. At sunset the angelus calls them to evening 
prayers. 

After prayers there follows a light evening meal, and 
then come games and perhaps dancing. At nine o’clock all 
go to bed for the night. 

Such is the plan of work, worship, meals, and rest which 
these Indian converts follow every working day throughout 
the year. There are no idlers. All work without hesitation 
or complaint. It is indeed a wonderful sight, for there are 
hundreds of Indians in the mission. Sometimes there are 
three or four thousand at the larger ones. 

Every mission, we are told, is self-supporting—that is, 
it produces most of what it uses—although a few necessary 
things are received in trade, when foreign ships come into 
near-by harbors. The missions export large quantities of 
olive-oil, wine, tallow, and hides, and the income from this 


134 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


source goes to the support of the mission and to the Spanish 
Government. 

The trader, like the traveller, is always a welcome guest, 
for he also brings news from the outside world. While the 
ships remain in the harbor, the padres sometimes dine with 
the traders in the ship’s cabin; or, more frequently perhaps, 
the traders are invited to dinner at the mission. There thev 
are given much freedom, but they are expected to attend 
mass. 

Having spent a most enjoyable day at the mission, we 
are off early the next morning. The kind-hearted padres 
speed us on our journey with fresh horses and we travel 
northward along a well-marked road which leads to the next 
mission. From time to time we meet a clumsy ox-cart 
piled high with tallow and hides jolting onward to the coast, 
or a lone horseman, or possibly a foot traveller with a pack 
on his back. 

To our left, as we gallop along, we look out on the 
silvery waters of the Pacific, and to our right, far away, we 
see snow-clad mountains. Near by on our approach to the 
next mission we gaze on fields of grain, herds of cattle, more 
orchards of fruit, and vineyards. Alighting at the gate, we 
hand over our horses to waiting Indians, enjoy another 
night’s hospitality, and by the following day bring our visit 
to an end. 

Besides what we have seen, we have learned other facts 
of interest about the missions. For instance, at San Ga- 


THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH 


135 


briel, there were at one time 2,000 horses and mules, 14,000 
sheep, and 25,000 cattle; and at San Diego, 26,000 head of 
cattle, horses, and sheep. 

All profits of the mission were either put into making 
better buildings or into a fund belonging to the neophyte 
Indians themselves. The devoted padres receive no pay for 
what they do. Their only desire is to make good Christians 
of the Indians, and to train them to habits of work. 

We notice that the Indians are treated like children, as 
indeed they are. They have to do just what they are told 
or they are severely punished. And yet they seem, as a rule, 
to be content with their lot and even happy in obeying those 
who are both their teachers and their taskmasters. 

Above all, our visit to the missions has impressed us with 
their great industry and prosperity. They not only gave a 
religious training to thousands of Indian men and women; 
they also put extensive areas of new land under cultivation, 
built up a light commerce with foreign lands, and furnished 
stations of entertainment where scattered settlers and other 
travellers found a friendly welcome. And most remarkable 
of all, at a time when hostile, savage Indians were roving 
the plains, the gentler tribes of the coast were living a 
peaceful and productive life under the teaching of the faith¬ 
ful padres who brought them into close touch with the 
civilized ways of the white men. Such is the story of the 
early Spanish settlements in California. 


136 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


Some Things to Think About 

1. What was the cause of the last French War? The result? 

2. What kind of boy was George Washington? How did his early 

training fit him for his first mission from the governor? 

3. Describe his work as surveyor beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

4. Tell the story of Washington’s long journey to the French fort. 

5. What do you admire in Washington? In what ways can you be like 

him? 

6. What kind of boy was Benjamin Franklin? Do you think you would 

like such a boy if he were in your school ? 

7. What important thing did Franklin try to bring about? Did he 

succeed ? 

8. How did Braddock show he was unfitted to command the expedition ? 

9. Imagine yourself a near friend of James Wolfe, and tell why you 

like him. 

10. What was Wolfe’s great problem? What was his plan for solving 

the problem? 

11. Tell the story of the tragic end of the two rival generals. 

12. How did the surrender of Quebec affect the future of America? Of 

what country is Canada now a part ? 

13. How many Spanish missions were there, and what was their pur¬ 

pose? 

14. Tell as much as you can about the mission buildings and the occu¬ 

pations of the neophyte Indians. 

15. Imagine yourself spending a day in a mission, and describe what you 

see there. 

16. How many people lived in some of the largest missions? 

17. What good things were accomplished by the missions? 


CHAPTER XI 


PATRICK HENRY ELOQUENTLY DEFENDS THE 
RIGHTS OF THE COLONISTS 

The Last French War had cost England so much that 
at its close she was heavily in debt. “As England must 
now send to America a standing army of at least 10,000 
men to protect the colonies against the Indians and other 
enemies/’ the king, George III, reasoned, “it is only fair 
that the colonists should pay a part of the cost of sup¬ 
porting it.” 

The English Parliament, being largely made up of the 
king’s friends, was quite ready to carry out his wishes, and 
passed a law taxing the colonists. It was called the Stamp 
Act. It provided that stamps—very much like our postage- 
stamps, but costing from one cent to fifty dollars each- 
should be put upon all the newspapers and almanacs used 
by the colonies, and upon all such legal papers as wills, 
deeds, and the notes which men give promising to pay back 
borrowed money. 

When news of this act reached the colonists they were 
angry. “It is unjust,” they said. “Parliament, by levy¬ 
ing taxes without our consent, is making slaves of us. The 
charters which the English king granted to our forefathers 
when they came to America make us free men just as much 

as if we were living in England. 

137 



138 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

“In England it is the law that no free man shall pay 
taxes unless they are levied by the men who represent him 



George III. 


in Parliament. We have no one to represent us there, and 
we will not pay the taxes which that body votes. We will 
pay only the taxes voted by the representatives in our own 
colonial assemblies. 7 7 











PATRICK HENRY 


139 


Among those most earnest in opposing the Stamp Act 
was Patrick Henry, who was born in 1736, in Hanover 
County, Virginia. His father was an able lawyer, and his 
mother belonged to a fine old Welsh family. 

Patrick, as a boy, took little interest in anything that 
seemed to his older friends worth while. He did not like 
to study nor to work on his father’s farm. His delight was 
to wander through the woods, gun in hand, hunting for 
game, or to sit on the bank of some stream fishing by the 
hour. When not enjoying himself out-of-doors he might 
be playing his violin. 

Of course the neighbors said, “A boy so idle and shift¬ 
less will never amount to anything,” and his parents did 
not know what to do with him. When he was fifteen years 
old they put him as clerk into a little country store, where 
he worked for a year, and then opened a store of his own. 
But he was still too lazy to attend to business, and soon failed. 

When he was only eighteen he married. The parents 
of the young couple, anxious that they should do well, gave 
them a small farm and a few slaves. But it was the same 
old story. The young farmer would not take the trouble 
to look after his affairs, and let things drift. So before long 
the farm had to be sold to pay debts. Once more Patrick 
turned to store-keeping, and after a few years he failed 
again. He was now twenty-three years old, with no set¬ 
tled occupation, and with a wife and family to support. 
No doubt he seemed to his friends a ne’er-do-well. 


140 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


About this time he decided to become a lawyer. He 
borrowed some law-books, and after studying for six months 
applied for permission to practise law. Although he passed 
a poor examination, he at last was started on the right road. 

He succeeded well in his law practice, and in a few years 
had so much business that people in his part of Virginia 
began to take notice of him. In 1765, soon after the Stamp 
Act was passed by the British Parliament, he was elected a 
member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, a body not 
unlike our state legislature. 

PATRICK HENRY MAKES A FIERY SPEECH AGAINST 

THE STAMP ACT 

History gives us a vivid picture of the young lawyer as 
he rides on horseback along the country road toward 
Williamsburg, then the capital of Virginia. He is wearing 
a faded coat, leather knee-breeches, and yarn stockings, 
and carries his law papers in his saddle-bag. Although but 
twenty-nine, his tall, thin figure stoops as if bent with age. 
He does not look the important man he is soon to 
become. 

When he reaches the little town of Williamsburg, he 
finds great excitement. Men gather in small groups on the 
street, talking in anxious tones. Serious questions are 
being discussed: “What shall we do about the Stamp Act? 7 ' 
they say. “Shall we submit and say nothing? Shall we 
send a petition to King George asking him for justice? 


PATRICK HENRY 


141 


Shall we beg Parliament to repeal the act, or shall we take 
a bold stand and declare that we will not obey it?” 



Patrick Henry Delivering His Soeech in the Virginia House of 

Burgesses. 


Not only on the street but also in the House of Bur¬ 
gesses was great excitement. Most of the members were 
wealthy planters who lived on great estates. So much 
weight and dignity had they that the affairs of the colony 








142 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


were largely under their control. Most of them were loyal 
to the “mother country/'’ as they liked to call England, 
and they wished to obey the English laws as long as these 
were just. 

So they counselled: “Let us move slowly. Let nothing 
be done in a passion. Let us petition the king to modify 
the laws which appear to us unjust, and then, if he will not 
listen, it will be time to refuse to obey. We must not be 
rash.” 

Patrick Henry, the new member, listened earnestly. 
But he could not see things as these older men of affairs 
saw them. To him delay seemed dangerous. He was 
eager for prompt, decisive action. On a blank leaf from 
a law-book he hastily wrote some resolutions, and, rising 
to his feet, he read them to the assembly. 

We can easily picture the scene. This plainly dressed 
rustic with stooping shoulders is in striking contrast to the 
prosperous plantation-owners, with their powdered hair, 
ruffled shirts, knee-breeches, and silver shoe-buckles. They 
give but a listless attention as Henry begins, in quiet tones, 
to read his resolutions. “Who cares what this country 
fellow thinks?” is their attitude. “Who is he, anyway? 
We never heard his voice before.” 

But while they sit in scornful wrath, the young orator’s 
eyes begin to glow, his stooping figure becomes erect, and 
his voice rings out with fiery eloquence. “The General 
Assembly of Virginia, and only the General Assembly of 


PATRICK HENRY 


143 


Virginia/’ he exclaims, u has the right and the power of 
laying taxes upon the people of this colony.” 

These stirring words fall amid a hushed silence. Then 
debate grows hot, as members rise to speak in opposition. 
But the new member is more than 
a match for all the distinguished 
men who disagree with him. Like 
a torrent, his arguments sweep all 
before them. The bold resolutions 
he presents are passed by the 
assembly. 

It was a great triumph. On 
that day Patrick Henry made his 
name. “ Stick to us, old fellow, 

Or We’re gone,” Said One Of the William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. 

plain people, giving him a slap on 

the shoulder as he passed out at the close of the stormy 
session. The unpromising youth had suddenly become a 
leader in the affairs of the colony. 

Not only in Virginia, but also in other colonies, Henry’s 
speech aroused the people against the Stamp Act. They 
saw in the young assemblyman a bold leader, willing to 
risk any danger for the cause of justice and freedom. 

You would expect that in the colonies there would be 
strong objection to the Stanm Act, but even in England 
many leading men opposed it. They thought that George 
III was making a great mistake in trying to tax the colonies 






144 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


without their consent. In the House of Commons, William 
Pitt, afterward Earl of Chatham, made a great speech in 
which he said: “I rejoice that America has resisted.” He 
went on to say that if the Americans had meekly submitted, 
they would have acted like slaves. 

Other great statesmen, among them Edmund Burke 
and Charles James Fox, befriended us. And even more 
helpful were the English merchants and ship-owners, who 
joined in begging Parliament that the act be repealed be¬ 
cause the Americans refused to buy any English goods as 
long as the Stamp Act was in force. It was repealed the 
next year. 

Other unjust measures followed, but before we take 
them up let us catch another glimpse of Patrick Henry, 
ten years after his patriotic speech at Williamsburg. 

ANOTHER PATRIOTIC SPEECH BY PATRICK HENRY AROUSES 

THE COLONISTS TO RESISTANCE 

The people of Virginia are again aroused. King George 
has caused Parliament to send English soldiers to Boston 
to force the unruly people of Massachusetts to obey some 
of his commands, against which they had rebelled. Vir¬ 
ginia has stood by her sister colony, and now the royal 
governor of Virginia, to punish her, has prevented the 
House of Burgesses from meeting at Williamsburg. 

But the "\ irginians are not so easily kept from doing 
their duty. With a grim determination to defend their 


PATRICK HENRY 


145 


rights as free men, they elect leaders to act for them at this 
trying time. They call a meeting in Richmond at old St. 
John’s Church. There is great excitement, and thoughtful 
people are very serious, for the shadows of the war-cloud 
are growing blacker every hour. 

In the meeting Patrick Henry offers a resolution that 


St. John’s Church, Richmond. 

Virginia should at once prepare to defend herself. Many 
of the leading men stoutly oppose this resolution as rash 
and unwise. 

After heated discussion Patrick Henry rises, his face 
pale, his voice trembling with deep emotion. Again the 
bent shoulders straighten and the small, deep eyes flash 
with excitement, but his voice is clear and steady, and as 
he goes on with increasing power it rings out like a trum- 






















146 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


pet. Men lean forward in breathless interest. Listen to 
his words: 

“We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An 
appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us ! 

“ . . . Our brethren are already in the field! Why 
stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? 
What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, 
as to be purchased at the price of chains and slaver} 7 ? 
Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others 
may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death ! ” 
Small wonder that the audience sways to his belief! 
He was a true prophet, for in less than four weeks the first 
gun of the Revolution was fired. The battle was fought 
in the quiet town of Lexington, Mass., and, without doubt, 
Patrick Henry’s fiery spirit helped to kindle the flame which 
then burst forth. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Why did Parliament pass the Stamp Act, and why did the colonists 

object to it? 

2. What did Patrick Henry mean when he said the General Assembly of 

Virginia, and only the General Assembly of Virginia, had the right 
and the power of laying taxes upon the people of that colony? 

3. What is your mental picture of young Patrick Henry as he rode on 

horseback toward Williamsburg? 

4. What did William Pitt think of the Stamp Act? Why did Parliament 

repeal it? What other friends did the colonists have in England ? 

5. Explain Patrick Henry’s power as an orator? Tell some things that 

he said in his famous speech in St. John’s Church. 

6. What do you admire in him? Why do we remember him as a great 

leader? 


CHAPTER XII 


SAMUEL ADAMS IS THE CHAMPION OF FREEDOM 
AND THE LEADER OF THE COLONISTS IN 


NEW ENGLAND 


While Patrick Henry was leading the people of Virginia 
in their defiance of the Stamp Act, exciting events were 
taking place in Massachusetts under another colonial 
leader. This was Samuel Adams. 



Even before Virginia took any 
action, he had introduced in the 
Massachusetts Assembly resolu¬ 
tions opposing the Stamp Act, 
and they were passed. 


This man, who did more than 
any one else to arouse the love 
of liberty in his colony, was born 
in Boston in 1722. His boyhood 


Samuel Adams. 


was quite different from that of 

Patrick Hemy. He liked to go to school and to learn from 
books, and he cared little for outdoor life or sport of any 
kind. 

As he grew up, his father wished him to become a clergy¬ 
man, but Samuel preferred to study law. His mother op- 


147 


148 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


posing this, he entered upon business life. It was, per¬ 
haps, a mistake, for he did not take to business, and, like 
Patrick Henry, soon failed, even losing most of the prop¬ 
erty his father had left him. 

SAMUEL ADAMS IS AN INSPIRING LEADER 

But, although not skilful in managing his own affairs, he 
was a most loyal and successful worker for the interests of 
the colony. Before long he gave up most of his private 
business, spending his time and strength for the public 
welfare. 

His only income was the very small salary he received 
as clerk of the Assembly of Massachusetts. It was hardly 
sufficient to buy food for his household. But his wife was 
thrifty and cheerful, and his friends were glad to help him 
because of the time he gave to public affairs. His home 
life, though plain, was comfortable, and his children were 
well brought up. 

Poor as he was, no man could be more upright. The 
British, fearing his influence, tried at different times to 
bribe him with office under the king, and even to buy him 
with gold. But he scorned any such attempts to turn him 
aside from the path of duty. 

The great purpose of his life seemed to be to encourage 
the colonists to stand up for their rights as freemen, and to 
defeat the plans of King George in trying to force them to 
pay taxes. This kept him busy night and day. In the 


SAMUEL ADAMS 


149 



assembly and in the town meeting all looked to him as an 
able leader; and in the workshops, on the streets, or in 
the shipyards men 
listened intently 
while he made 
clear the aims of 
the king, and 
urged them to de¬ 
fend their rights 
as free-born Eng¬ 
lishmen. 

Even at the 
close of a busy 
day this earnest 
patriot gave him¬ 
self little rest. 

Sometimes he was 
writing articles for 
the newspapers, 
and sometimes 
urgent letters to 
prominent leaders 

in Massachusetts and in the other colonies. Long after 
midnight those who passed his dimly lighted windows 
could see “Sam Adams hard at work writing against the 
Tories.” 


Patriots in New York Destroying Stamps Intended 
for Use in Connecticut. 


Had you known him at this time, you would never 









150 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


have thought of him as a remarkable man. He was of 
medium size, with keen gray eyes and hair already fast 
turning white. His head and hands trembled as if with 
age, though he was only forty-two years old and in good 
health. 

He became a powerful leader in the colony. Not only 
did he rouse the people against the Stamp Act, but he helped 
to organize societies of patriots called “Sons of Liberty,” 
who refused to use the stamps, and often destroyed them. 
In Massachusetts, as in Virginia and elsewhere, the people 
went further, and refused to buy any English goods. 

After many resolutions had been passed and many ap¬ 
peals made to the king, the act was repealed, as we have 
already seen. There was great rejoicing! In every town 
in the country bonfires were lighted, and every colonial 
assembly sent thanks to the king. 

But the obstinate, power-loving George III was not at 
all pleased with the course of events. He had given in 
very much against his will, for he wanted to rule in his 
own way, and how was that possible if he allowed his stub¬ 
born colonists to get the better of him? 

So he made up his mind to insist upon some sort of a 
tax, and in 1767, only a year after the repeal of the Stamp 
Act, he persuaded Parliament to pass a law taxing glass, 
lead, paper, tea, and a few other articles imported into the 
colonies. 

Samuel Adams and other leaders said: “We can resist 


SAMUEL ADAMS 


151 


this tax just as we did the Stamp Act—by refusing to buy 
any goods whatever from England.’ 7 To this the mer¬ 
chants agreed, promising that while the unjust tax was in 
force they would import no English goods, and the people 
agreed to uphold them. 

SAMUEL ADAMS’S COUNSEL TO THE PEOPLE OF BOSTON 
NOT TO RECEIVE THE TEA LEADS TO THE 
“ BOSTON TEA PARTY ’’ 

Feeling grew more bitter and business became worse, 
until at length, after something like three years, Parliament 
took off all the new taxes except the one on tea. “They 
must pay one tax to know we keep the right to tax,” said 
the king. 

It would have been much better for England if she had 
taken off all the taxes and made friends with the colonists. 
Many leaders in that country said so, but the unwise king 
was bent upon having his own way. “I will be king,” he 
said. “They shall do as I say.” 

Then he and his followers worked up what seemed to 
them a clever scheme for hoodwinking the colonists. “We 
will make the tea cheaper in America than in England,” 
they said. 

But they were soon to find out that those simple colo¬ 
nists were only Englishmen across the sea, that they too 
had strong wills, and that they did not care half so much 
about buying cheap tea as they did about giving up a 


152 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


principle and paying a tax, however small, which they had 
no part in levying. 

King George went straight ahead with his plan. It 
was arranged that the East India Company should ship 
cargoes of tea to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and 
Charleston. 

In due time the tea arrived. Then the king’s eyes were 
opened. What did he find out about the spirit of these 
colonists? That they simply would not use this tea. The 
people in New York and Philadelphia refused to let it land, 
and in Charleston they stored it in damp cellars, where it 
spoiled. 

But the most exciting time was in Boston, where the 
Tory governor, Hutchinson, was determined to carry out 
the king’s wishes. Hence occurred the famous “ Boston 
Tea Party 1 ’—a strange tea-party, where no cups were 
used, no guests invited, and no tea drunk! Did you ever 
hear of such a party ? Let us see what really happened. 

It was on a quiet Sunday, the 28th of November, 1773, 
when the Dartmouth, the first of the three tea-ships bound 
for Boston, sailed into the harbor. The people were at¬ 
tending service in the various churches when the cry, “The 
Dartmouth is in!” spread like wildfire. Soon the streets 
were alive with people. That was a strange Sunday in 
Puritan Boston. 

The leaders quickly sought out Benjamin Rotch, the 
owner of the Dartmouth, and obtained his promise that 


SAMUEL ADAMS 


153 


the tea should not be landed before Tuesday. Then they 
called a mass-meeting for Monday morning, in Faneuil 
Hall, afterward known as the “ Cradle of Liberty.” 

The crowd was so great that the meeting adjourned 
to the Old South Church, 
and there overflowed into 
the street. There were 5,000 
in all, some having come 
from near-by towns. Samuel 
Adams presided. In ad¬ 
dressing the meeting, he 
asked: “Is it the firm res¬ 
olution of this body not 
only that the tea shall be 
sent back but that no duty 
shall be paid thereon?” 

“Yes!” came the prompt 
and united answer from 
these brave men. 

The patriots were determined that the tea should not 
be landed. Governor Hutchinson was equally determined 
that it should be. A stubborn fight, therefore, was on hand. 

The Boston patriots appointed men, armed with mus¬ 
kets and bayonets, to watch the tea-ships, some by day, 
others by night. Six post-riders were appointed, who 
should keep their horses saddled and bridled, ready to 
speed into the country to give the alarm if a landing should 



Faneuil Hall, Boston. 


























































154 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


be attempted. Sentinels were stationed in the church 
belfries to ring the bells, and beacon-fires were made ready 
for lighting on the surrounding hilltops. 

Tuesday, December 16, dawned. If the tea should re¬ 
main in the harbor until the morrow—the twentieth day 

after arrival — the revenue officer 
would be empowered by law to 
land it forcibly. 

Men, talking angrily and shak¬ 
ing their fists with excitement, 
were thronging into the streets of 
Boston from the surrounding 
towns. By ten o’clock over 7,000 
had assembled in the Old South 
Church and in the streets outside. 
They were waiting for Benjamin 
Rotch, who had gone to see if the 
collector would give him a “ clear¬ 
ance,” or permission to sail out of 
the port of Boston with the tea. 

Rotch came in and told the angry crowd that the col¬ 
lector refused to give the clearance. The people told him 
that he must get a pass from the governor. Then the meet¬ 
ing adjourned until the afternoon. 

At three o’clock a great throng of eager men crowded 
the Old South Church and the streets outside waiting again 
for Rotch. It was an anxious moment. “If the governor 



Old South Church, Boston. 



SAMUEL ADAMS 


155 


refuses to give the pass, shall the revenue officer be allowed 
to seize the tea and land it to-mOrrow morning?” Many 
anxious faces showed that men were asking themselves this 
momentous question. 

But while the meeting waited in deep suspense for 
Rotch, they discussed the situation, and suddenly John 
Rowe asked: “Who knows how tea will mingle with salt 
water?” At once a whirlwind of applause swept through 
the assembly and the masses outside. A plan was soon 
made. 

The afternoon light of the short winter day faded, and 
darkness deepened; the lights of candles sprang up here and 
there in the windows. It was past six o’clock when Ben¬ 
jamin Rotch entered the church and, with pale face, said: 
“The governor refuses to give a pass.” 

An angry murmur arose, but the crowd soon became 
silent as Samuel Adams stood up. He said quietly: “This 
meeting can do nothing more to save the country.” 

These words were plainly a signal. In an instant a 
war-whoop sounded outside, and forty or fifty “Mohawks,” 
men dressed as Indians, dashed past the door and down 
Milk Street toward Griffin’s Wharf, where the tea-ships 
were lying at anchor. 

It was then bright moonlight, and everything could be 
plainly seen. Many men stood on shore and watched the 
“Mohawks” as they broke open 342 chests and poured 
the tea into the harbor. There was no confusion. All was 


156 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


done in perfect order. And many leading citizens assisted 
at this strange brewing of tea. 

Soon waiting messengers were speeding to outlying 
towns with the news, and Paul Revere, “ booted and 
spurred,” mounted a swift horse and carried the glorious 
message through the colonies as far as Philadelphia. 


THE U BOSTON TEA PARTY” RESULTS IN CLOSING THE PORT 

TO TRADE 

The 1 1 Boston Tea Party ’ 1 was not a festivity which pleased 
the king. In fact, it made him very furious. He promptly 
decided to punish the rebellious colony. Parliament, there¬ 
fore, passed the “ Boston Port Bill,” by which the port of 
Boston was to be closed to trade until the people paid for 
the tea. But this they had no mind to do. They stub¬ 
bornly refused. 

Not Boston alone came under the displeasure of King 
George and Parliament. Massachusetts was put under 
military rule, with more soldiers, and with General Gage as 
governor. The new governor gave orders that the colonial 
assembly should hold no more meetings. He said that the 
people should no longer make their own laws, nor levy 
their own taxes. This punishment was indeed severe. 

With no vessels allowed to enter or leave the harbor, 
and trade entirely cut off, the people of Boston soon began 
to suffer. Yet the brave men and women would not give 


SAMUEL ADAMS 


157 



in. They said: “We will not pay for the tea, nor will we 
say to the king we are sorry for what we have done . 77 

When the other 
colonies heard of 
the suff ering of the 
people in Boston, 
they sent wheat, 
cows, sheep, fish, 
sugar, and other 
kinds of food to 
help them. The 
king thought that 
by punishing 
Boston he would 
frighten the other 
colonies. But he 
was mistaken, for 
they said: “We 
will help the 
people of our sis¬ 
ter colony. Her 
cause is our cause. We must all pull together in our re¬ 
sistance to King George and the English Parliament . 77 So 
his action really united the colonies. 

In order to work together to better advantage, the 
colonies agreed that each should send to a great meeting 
some of their strongest men to talk over their troubles and 


Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia. 
























158 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


work out some plan of united action. This meeting, which 
was called the First Continental Congress, was held at 
Carpenters’ Hall, Philadelphia (1774). 

This First Continental Congress urged the people to 
stand together in resisting the attempt of King George and 
Parliament to force them to pay taxes which they had had 
no share in laying. By this time they went a step farther 
and declared: “We have the right not only to tax ourselves 
but also to govern ourselves.” 

Some Things to Think About 

1. In what respects were Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry unlike as 

boys? 

2. Tell why Samuel Adams had great power over men. Why is he so 

well remembered? 

3. What kind of man was George III? Why did he so strongly desire 

that the colonists should be compelled to pay a tax to England? 

4. What was the tax law of 1767, and why did the colonists object to 

paying the new taxes? 

5. What led to the “Boston Tea Party”? Imagine yourself one of the 

party, and tell what you did. 

6. In what way did George III and Parliament punish Boston for throw¬ 

ing the tea overboard? How did the colonists help the people of 
Boston at this time? 

7. What was the First Continental Congress, and what step of great 

consequence did it take? 

8. Locate Boston and Philadelphia on the map. 


CHAPTER XIII 


THE WAR FOR OUR INDEPENDENCE BEGINS NEAR 

BOSTON 

When Parliament passed the Boston Port Bill, the 
king believed that such severe punishment would not only 
put a stop to further rebellious acts but would cause the 
colonists to feel sorry for what they 
had done, and incline them once more 
to obey him. Imagine his surprise 
and indignation at what followed! 

As soon as General Gage ordered 
that the Massachusetts Assembly 
should hold no more meetings, the 
colonists made up their minds they 
would not be put down in this 
manner. They said: “The king 
has broken up the assembly. Very 
well. We will form a new gov¬ 
erning body and call it the Provincial Congress.'’ 

And what do you suppose the chief business of this 
congress was? To make ready for war! An army was 
called for, and provision made that a certain number of 
the men enlisted should be prepared to leave their homes 

159 



John Hancock. 






160 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


at a minute’s notice. These men were called “minute- 
men.” 

Even while the patriots; for so the rebellious subjects of 
King George called themselves ; were making these prepa¬ 
rations; General Gage, who was in command of the British 


troops in Boston; had received 
orders from England to seize as 
traitors Samuel Adams and John 
Hancock; who were the most ac¬ 
tive leaders. 



Samuel Adams you already 
know. John Hancock was presi¬ 
dent of the newly made Provincial 
Congress. General Gage knew 
that Adams and Hancock were 
staying with a friend in Lexing¬ 
ton. He had learned also through 
spies that minutemen had collect¬ 
ed some cannon and military 


A Minuteman. 


stores in Concord; twenty miles from Boston ; and only eight 
miles beyond Lexington. He planned; therefore; to send a 
body of troops to arrest the two leaders at Lexington, and 
then to capture or destroy the stores at Concord. 

Although he acted with the greatest secrecy, he was 
unable to keep the knowledge of his plans from watchful 
minutemen. We shall see how one of them outwitted 
him. 


THE WAR FOR OUR INDEPENDENCE 


161 


Paul Revere had taken an active part in the “ Boston 
Tea Party/’ and the following year, with about thirty other 
young patriots, he had formed a society to spy out the 
British plans. 

On the eve¬ 
ning of April 18, 

1775, he and his 
friends brought 
word to Doctor 
Warren, a patri¬ 
ot leader, that 
General Gage 
was about to 
cany out his 
plan of capture. 

It was quick¬ 
ly arranged that 
Paul Revere 
and William 

John Hancock’s Home, Boston. 

Dawes should 

go on horseback to Lexington and Concord and give the 
alarm. They were sent by different routes, with the hope 
that one at least might escape the British patrols who 
carefully guarded all roads leading from Boston. 

Dawes was soon galloping across Boston Neck, and 
Paul Revere was getting ready for his long night ride. 

After arranging for a lantern signal in the belfry of the 

























































162 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

Old North Church, to show by which route the British were 
advancing, “one if by land and two if by sea/’ in a light 



From a drawing by F. C. Yohn. 

Paul Revere’s Ride. 


skiff he crossed the Charles River to Charlestown. There 
he obtained a fleet horse and stood ready, bridle in hand, 
watching to catch the signal-lights. 

At eleven o’clock one light! Exciting moment! Then 




THE WAR FOR OUR INDEPENDENCE 


163 



another light! “Two if by sea!” The British troops are 
crossing the Charles River to march through Cambridge! 

No time to lose! Springing to 
the saddle and spurring his horse, he 
is off like the wind toward Lexington. 

Suddenly two British officers spring 
out from the road-side. Dashing into 
a side-path, with spurs to his horse 
he is soon far beyond his pursuers. 

Then, in his swift 

* 


flight along the 
road, at every 
house he shouts: 
“Up and arm! Up 
and arm ! The reg¬ 
ulars are out! The 
regulars are out!” 

Lights begin to 
gleam from the win¬ 
dows. Doors open 
and close. Minute- 
men are mustering. 

When Lexing¬ 
ton is reached, it is 




mm 


/ j "W 


Old North Church. 


just midnight. Eight minutemen are guarding the house 
where Adams and Hancock are sleeping. “Make less 
noise!” they warn the lusty rider. “Noise!” cries Paul 



















164 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


Revere. “You’ll have noise enough before long. The 
regulars are out!” 

Then William Dawes arrives and joins Revere. Hastily 
refreshing themselves with a light meal, they ride off to¬ 
gether toward Concord. Samuel Prescott, a prominent 
Son of Liberty, whose home is in that town, has joined 
them. About half-way they are surprised by mounted 
British officers, who call: “Halt!” 

Prescott escapes by making his horse leap a stone wall, 
and rides in hot haste to Concord; but Paul Revere and 
William Dawes fall into the hands of the British officers, 
who returned with them to Lexington and then let them go. 
Running off at full speed to the house where Samuel Adams 
and John Hancock were staying, Paul Revere told them 
what had happened, and then guided them across the fields 
to a place of safety. 

BATTLES AT LEXINGTON AND CONCORD AND BUNKER HILL 
GIVE THE COLONISTS GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT 

Meantime, the British troops, numbering 800 men, 
under Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, were on their way to 
Lexington. Before they had gone far they were made 
aware, by the ringing of church-bells, the firing of signal- 
guns, the beating of drums, and the gleaming of beacon- 
fires from the surrounding hilltops, that their secret was 
out, and that the minutemen knew what was going on. 

Surprised and disturbed by these signs, Colonel Smith 


THE WAR FOR OUR INDEPENDENCE 


165 


sent Major Pitcairn ahead with a picked body of troops, 
in the hope that they might reach Lexington before the town 
could be completely aroused. He also sent back to Boston 
for more men. 

Just as the sun was rising Pitcairn marched into Lex- 



Monument on Lexington Common Marking the Line of the Minutemen. 


ington, where he found forty or fifty minutemen ready to 
dispute his advance. 

Riding up, he cried: “Disperse, ye rebels; disperse!’ 7 
But they did not disperse. Pitcairn ordered his men to 
fire, and eighteen minutemen fell to the ground. 

Leaving the shocked and dazed villagers to collect their 
dead and wounded, Colonel Smith hastened to Concord. 
He arrived about seven in the morning, six hours after 
Doctor Prescott had given the alarm. 
































166 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


There had been time to hide the military stores; so the 
British could not get at those. But they cut down the 
liberty-pole ; set fire to the court-house, spiked a few can¬ 
non, and emptied 
some barrels of flour. 

About 200 of 
them stood guard at 
the North Bridge, 
while a body of min- 
utemen gathered on 
a hill on the oppo¬ 
site side. When the 
minutemen had in¬ 
creased to 400, they 
advanced to the 
bridge and brought on a fight which resulted in loss of life 
on both sides. Then, pushing on across the bridge, they 
forced the British to withdraw into the town. 

The affair had become more serious than the British had 
expected. Even in the town they could not rest, for an 
ever-increasing body of minutemen kept swarming into 
Concord from every direction. By noon Colonel Smith 
could see that it would be unwise to delay, and gave the 
order to return to Boston. 

When they started back, the minutemen kept after 
them in a deadly attack. It was an unequal fight. The 
minutemen, trained to woodland warfare, slipped from tree 






THE WAR FOR OUR INDEPENDENCE 


167 


to tree, shot down the worn and helpless British soldiers, 
and then retreated, only to return and repeat the harassing 
attack. 

When the British reached Lexington Common, at two 



Concord Bridge. 


o’clock, they were quite overcome with fatigue. Only the 
timely arrival of 1,200 fresh troops, under Lord Percy, saved 
the entire force from capture. 

After resting an hour they again took up their march. 
But the minutemen, increasing in numbers every moment, 












168 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

continued their running attack until, late in the day, the 
redcoats came under the protection of the guns of the war- 

vessels in Boston 
harbor. 

The British had 
failed. There was 
no denying that. 
They had been 
driven back, almost 
in a panic, to Bos¬ 
ton, with a loss of 
nearly 300 men. 
The Americans had 
not lost 100. 

The people of 
Massachusetts for 
miles around were 
now in a state of 
great excitement. 
Farmers, mechan¬ 
ics, men in all walks 
of life flocked to the army, and within a few days the 
Americans, 16,000 strong, were surrounding the British in 
Boston. 

While these stirring events were happening in Massachu¬ 
setts, something of great importance to all the colonies 
was taking place in Philadelphia. Here the Continental 












THE WAR FOR OUR INDEPENDENCE 


169 


Congress, coming together for the second time, was 
preparing for war. They made George Washington com¬ 
mander-in-chief of the Continental army, of which the 
troops around Boston were already a beginning. 








Meantime more British 
troops, under the command of 
General Howe, arrived in Bos¬ 
ton, making an army of 10,000 
men. In order to force them 
out the Americans decided to 
occupy Bunker Hill. 

On the night of June 16, 
therefore, shortly before mid¬ 
night, 1,200 Americans marched 
quietly from Cambridge and, 
advancing to Breed’s Hill, which 
was nearer Boston than Bunker 
Hill, began to throw up breast¬ 
works. They worked hard all night, and by early morn¬ 
ing had made good headway. 

The British, on awaking, were greatly surprised, and 
turned the fire of their war-vessels upon the Americans, 
who kept right on with their work. 

General Howe, now in command of the British army, 
thought it would be easy enough to drive off the “ rebels,” 
and about three o’clock in the afternoon made an assault 
upon their works. 




Bunker Hill Monument. 



170 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


The British soldiers, in their scarlet uniforms, make an 
impressive sight as they climb the slope of the hill to charge 
the breastworks. Twice they advance and twice the 
Americans drive them back, ploughing great gaps in their 
ranks. 

A third time they advance. Now the Americans do 
not answer the charge. Their powder has given out! A 
great rush—and the redcoats have climbed over. Even 
now it is no easy victory, for the Americans fight bravely, as 
with clubbed muskets they meet the invaders. 

The British won their victory with great loss. “Many 
such,” said one critic, “would have cost them their army.’ 7 
On the other hand, the Americans had fought like heroes, 
and news of the battle brought joy to every loyal heart. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Impersonating Paul Revere, tell the story of his famous ride. What 

do you think of him ? Trace on the map the route he took. 

2. Why did the British troops march out to Lexington and Concord? 

3. Imagine yourself at Concord on the morning of the battle, and tell 

what happened. Who were the minutemen? 

4. Describe the British retreat. 

5. Why did the Americans fortify Breed’s Hill? 

6. What were the results of the battle of Bunker Hill? 


CHAPTER XIV 


GEORGE WASHINGTON IS MADE COMMANDER-IN- 

CHIEF OF OUR ARMY 

In electing George Washington commander-in-chief of 
the army the Continental Congress had chosen well. 
Men had come to know him as a leader, and believed they 
could trust to him the great work of directing the army. 

We know something of Wash¬ 
ington’s boyhood and youth and 
also of his valiant service in the 
Last French War. After that war 
he returned to his home at Mount 
Vernon, on the banks of the Poto¬ 
mac, and very soon (1759) mar¬ 
ried Mrs. Martha Custis, a young 
widow. He became a very rich 
man, being one of the largest land¬ 
holders in America. 

Some years rolled by in the 

busy, quiet life of the young 

planter, with no hint of the exciting events which were 

leading up to the Revolution. But during these days 

AVashington was taking his part in public affairs. He was 

one of the representatives of Virginia at the first meeting 

of the Continental Congress, in 1774, going to Philadelphia 

171 










172 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


in company with Patrick Henry and others. He was also 
a delegate to the second meeting of the Continental Con¬ 
gress; in May ; 1775. 

He filled well each place of honor, whether in army or 
state; personally, he represented the best life of the colonies. 
As a respected gentleman and trusted public servant, 



therefore, he was easily the unanimous choice of Congress 
for the commander-in-chief of the American army. 

On being elected, Washington rose and thanked Congress 
for the honor, adding modestly: “I do not think myself 
equal to the command I am honored with.” No doubt, in 
the dark days of war that followed, he often felt that way, 
but he accepted the trust, looking to a higher Power for 
strength to carry him through. 























GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 173 

A 

He refused to accept an}" salary for his services, but said 
he would keep an account of his expenses. The idea of 
gain for himself in the time of his country’s need was far 
removed from his idea of patriotic service. 

On the 21st of June Washington set out on horseback 
from Philadelphia, in company with a small body of horse¬ 
men, to take command of the American army around 
Boston. Three days later he arrived in New York, about 
four o’clock on Sunday afternoon, and was given a royal 
welcome. Nine companies of soldiers on foot escorted him 
as he passed through the city in an open carriage drawn 
by two white horses, and all along the route crowds of 
people who lined the streets greeted him with cheers. 
Continuing his journey, on July 2 he reached the camp 
in Cambridge, where officers and soldiers received him with 
enthusiasm. 

THE AMERICAN ARMY UNDER WASHINGTON’S LEADERSHIP 
DRIVES THE BRITISH OUT OF BOSTON 

Next day under the famous elm still standing near 
Harvard University, Washington drew his sword and took 
command of the American army. 

He was then forty-three years old, tall and manly in 
form, noble and dignified in bearing. His soldiers looked 
upon him with pride as he sat upon his horse, a superb 
picture of strength and dignity. He wore a three-cornered 
hat decorated with the cockade of liberty, and across his 


174 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


breast a broad band of blue silk. The impression he made 
was most pleasing, his courteous and kindly manner win¬ 
ning friends immediately. 

The new chief at once began the labor of getting his 
troops into fighting form, his army being one only in name. 



The Washington Elm at Cambridge, under which Washington Took 

Command of the Army. 


For, although the men were brave and willing, they had 
never been trained for war, and were not even supplied 
with muskets or powder. 

Fortunately, the British did not know how badly off 
the American army was, and were taking their ease inside 
their own defenses. The autumn and the winter slipped by 











GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 175 


before Washington could make any attempt to drive the 
British out of Boston. 

At last, by the 1st of March, 1776, when some cannon and 
other supplies arrived in camp, he sent troops by night to 
seize and fortify Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston 
on the south. Howe was taken completely by surprise. 
The Americans soon made their earthworks so strong that 
he decided not to molest them, and he sailed away with all 
his army to Halifax. The powder and cannon left behind 
showed that he lost no time in getting away. 

Washington thought that after leaving Boston the 
British would try to take New York, in order to get control 
of the Hudson River and the middle colonies. To outwit 
them he went there at once. 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IS ADOPTED 

JULY 4, 1776 

W r hile Washington was erecting defenses at New York, 
an event of profound importance took place in Philadel¬ 
phia. This was the adoption of the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence by the Continental Congress. Up to the summer 
of 1776 it was for their rights as free-born Englishmen that 
the colonists fought. But now that King George was 
sending thousands of soldiers to force them to give up 
these rights, dear to them as their own lives, they said: 
“We will cut ourselves off from England. We will make 
our own laws; we will levy our own taxes; we will manage 


176 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

our affairs in our own way. We will declare our inde¬ 
pendence. 7 ’ 

A committee, therefore, was appointed, two of whom 



Thomas Jefferson Looking over the Rough Draft of the 
Declaration of Independence. 


were Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, to draw up 
the Declaration of Independence. When it was presented 
to Congress, a long and heated debate followed, for while 





















































































































GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 177 

many were ready to fight for their rights, they did not wish 
to separate from the mother country. But the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence was adopted July 4, 1776. The event 
was announced by the ringing of bells throughout the coun¬ 
try, and there was great rejoicing everywhere. After that 
the thirteen colonies became states, each with its own 
government. 

WASHINGTON HAS A NARROW ESCAPE WITH HIS ARMY, 
AND IS FORCED TO RETREAT 

The Declaration of Independence made the earnest 
work of war no easier. It had to go on with increased 
energy, and the forces at Washington’s command were piti¬ 
ably weak. He had only an ill-assorted army of about 
18,000 men to meet the 30,000 under General Howe, who 
soon arrived in New York harbor with a large fleet. Yet 
Washington heroically carried out his plans to defend the 
city. Having fortified Brooklyn Heights, on Long Island, 
he sent General Putnam with half the army across the 
East River to occupy them. 

On August 27 General Howe, with something like 
20,000 men, attacked a part of these forces and defeated 
them. If he had attacked the remainder at once, he might 
have captured the full half of the army under Putnam’s 
command—and even Washington himself, who, during the 
heat of the battle, had crossed over from New York. 

But Howe was so sure of making an easy capture of that 


178 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


part of the army that he thought there was no need of 
haste, and gave his tired men a rest after the battle on the 
27th. On the 28th a heavy rain fell, and on the 29th a 
dense fog covered the island. 

Before midday of the 29th some American officers riding 



The Retreat from Long Island. 


•down toward the shore noticed an unusual stir in the Brit¬ 
ish fleet. Boats were going to and fro as if carrying or¬ 
ders. “ It looks as if the English vessels may soon sail up be¬ 
tween New York and Long Island and cut off our retreat/’ 
said these officers to Washington. The situation was peril¬ 
ous. At once Washington gave orders to secure all the 
boats possible, in order to attempt escape during the night. 














GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 179 


It was a desperate undertaking. There were 10,000 
men to be taken across, and the width of the river at the 
point of crossing was nearly a mile. It would hardly seem 
possible that such a movement could be made in a single 
night without being discovered by the British troops, 
who were lying in camp within gunshot of the retreating 
Americans. But that which seemed impossible was done, 
for the army was transferred in safety to New York. 

The night must have been a long and anxious one for 
Washington, who stayed at his post of duty on the Long 
Island shore until the last boat-load had pushed off. The 
retreat was as brilliant as it was daring, and it saved the 
American cause. 

But even after he had saved his army from capture and 
once more outwitted the British, the situation was still one 
of grave danger. For no sooner had the Americans left 
Long Island than the British seized Brooklyn Heights. 
And now just across the river from New York were the 
threatening British troops, and just below them in the 
harbor the British fleet. 


NATHAN HALE PERFORMS A HEROIC SERVICE FOR HIS 

COUNTRY 

With forces so unequal a single unwise movement 
might bring disaster. If Washington only could know 
what the British planned to do! There was but one way 


180 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


to find out, and that was to send a spy into their camp. 
He called for a volunteer. 

Probably many of you boys and girls know the name 
of the courageous young soldier who offered to go on this 
dangerous errand. He was Nathan Hale. It is worth our 
while to know more about him. 

He was born in Coventry, a little Connecticut town, in 
1755. His parents, who were veiy religious people, had 
taught him to be always honest, brave, and loyal. 

Nathan as a boy was studious and liked books, but he 
was also fond of play, and joined in sports with the other 
boys. They liked him because he always played fair. 

Later, at Yale College, he was a good student and an 
athlete also, developing into a tall and well-built young 
man. He sang well, was gentle in manner, and thoughtful 
of others. Indeed, his good qualities endeared him to all 
who knew him. 

After leaving college, he taught school and was much 
respected and loved by his pupils. When the Revolu¬ 
tionary War broke out he was teaching in New London, 
Conn. He felt sorry to leave his school, but believing 
his countiy needed the service of every patriotic man, he 
joined the army and was made a captain. 

When his commander needed a spy and asked for a 
volunteer, he said: “I am willing to go. Send me.” Be¬ 
cause of his quick mind and ready speech, and, above all, his 
trusted loyalty, Washington accepted him for the mission. 


GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 181 


He was only twenty-one, hardly more than a boy, and 
he knew the danger. Yet, although life was veiy dear to 
him, he put his country first. 

He entered the enemy’s lines, visited all the camps, 
took notes, and made sketches of the fortifications, hiding 
the papers in the soles of his shoes. He was just about re¬ 
turning, having hailed his boat, when he was captured. 
The papers were found in his shoes, and he was condemned 
to be hanged as a spy before sunrise the next morning. 

The marshal who guarded him that night was a cruel 
man. He would not allow his prisoner to have a Bible, 
and even tore in pieces before his eyes the farewell letters 
which Hale had written to his mother and friends. 

But Nathan Hale was not afraid to die, and held him¬ 
self calm and steady to the end. Looking down upon the 
few soldiers who were standing near by as he went to his 
death, he said: “I only regret that I have but one life to 
lose for my country.” 

Although prevented from fulfilling his mission, this 
brave young soldier proved himself a true hero. 

FIGHTING AGAINST HEAVY ODDS, WASHINGTON ESCAPES BY 

A MASTER-STROKE 

The death of Nathan Hale was only one of the severe 
trials Washington had to bear at this time. We have 
noted that when the Americans left the Long Island shore, 
the British promptly occupied it. As their position on 


182 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

Brooklyn Heights commanded New York, Washington had 
to withdraw, and he retreated northward to White Plains, 

where a battle was 
fought. 

The British were 
held back, but during 
the next two months 
the Americans lost 
heavily in the fighting, 
and also two forts on 
the Hudson River, with 
3,000 men. The out¬ 
look was gloomy for 
the Americans, and it 
was well that they 
could not foresee the 
events that were about 
to happen. 

In order to escape 
from the enemy, Wash¬ 
ington had to retreat once more, this time across New 
Jersey toward Philadelphia. With the British army, in 
every way stronger than his own, close upon him, it was a 
race for life. Sometimes there was only a burning bridge, 
which the rear-guard of the Americans had set on fire, be¬ 
tween the fleeing forces and the pursuing army. 

To make things worse, the soldiers whose term of en- 



The War in the Middle States. 






GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 183 


listment was over were leaving daily to go home. When 
Washington reached the Delaware River he had barely 
3,000 men in his army. 

But again by a master-stroke he saved the cause. With 
great care and foresight he had collected boats for seventy 
miles along the river, and had succeeded in getting his 
army safely across at a place a little above Trenton. As 
there were no boats left for the British, they had to come 
to a halt. In their usual easy way, they decided to wait 
until the river should freeze, when—as they thought—they 
would cross and make a speedy capture of Philadelphia. 

To most people in England and in America alike, the 
early downfall of the American cause seemed certain. 
General Cornwallis was so sure that the war was over that 
he had begun to pack his luggage, and had even sent some 
of it to the ship on which he expected to sail for England. 

But Washington had no thought of giving up. Others 
might say: “It's of no use to fight against such heavy odds.” 
General Washington was not that kind of man. He sum¬ 
moned all his courage and energy to face the dark outlook, 
watching for the opportunity to turn suddenly upon his 
overconfident enemy and strike a blow. 

WASHINGTON GIVES NEW HOPE TO THE PATRIOT CAUSE IN A 
SURPRISE ATTACK ON THE BRITISH TROOPS AT TRENTON 

An opportunity for attack came soon. Stationed at 
Trenton was a body of British troops, made up of Hessians 



184 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


(Germans mainly from Hesse-Cassel, hired as soldiers by King 
George). Washington knew it was their custom to feast and 
revel on Christmas night, and he planned to surprise them. 
With 2 ; 400 picked men he prepared to cross the Dela- 



British and Hessian Soldiers. 


ware River at a point nine miles above Trenton. The 
weather was bitter cold, and as the soldiers marched to 
the place of crossing, some whose feet were almost bare left 
bloody footprints on the snow. 

At sunset the troops began to cross. It was a terrible 
night. Angry gusts of wind and great blocks of ice swept 
along by the swift current threatened every moment to 
dash their frail boats to pieces. 






GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 185 


From the Trenton side of the river, General Knox, who 
had been sent ahead by Washington, loudly shouted to let 
the struggling boatmen know where to land. It took ten 
hours to make the dangerous crossing. A long night this 
must have been to Wash¬ 
ington, as he stood in the 
midst of the wild storm, 
anxious, yet hopeful that 
the next day would bring 
him victory. 

Not until four in the 
morning were the already 
weary men in line to march, 

, rp, . Powder-Horn, Bullet-Flask, and Buckshot- 

and 1 renton was still nine Pouch Used in the Revolution. 

miles away. A fearful 

storm of snow and sleet beat fiercely upon them as they 
advanced. Surely such courage and hardihood deserved 
its reward! 

The Hessians were sleeping heavily after their night’s 
feasting, quite unaware of the approaching army. About 
sunrise they were awakened by the firing guns, and so com¬ 
plete was their surprise that after a brief struggle they were 
easily captured. 

News of this brilliant victory shot through the colonies 
like a gleam of light in the darkness. It brought hope to 
the country and put courage into the army. The British 
were amazed at the daring feat, and Cornwallis decided not 


















186 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


to leave America for a time. Awakened from his dream of 
security, he advanced from his headquarters with a large 
force, hoping to capture Washington’s army at Trenton. 

At nightfall, January 2, 1777, he took his stand on the 
farther side of a small creek, near Trenton, believing he had 
Washington in a trap. “At last,” said Cornwallis, “we 
have run down the old fox, and we will bag him in the 
morning.” In the morning again ! 

But Washington was too sly a fox for Cornwallis to bag. 
During the night he led his army around Cornwallis’s camp, 
and, pushing on to Princeton, defeated the British rear¬ 
guard, which had not yet joined the main body. He then 
retired in safety to his winter quarters among the hills 
about Morristown. 

During this fateful campaign Washington had handled 
his army in a masterly way. He had begun with bitter 
defeat; he had ended with glorious victory. The Americans 
now felt that their cause was by no means hopeless. It was 
well that they had this encouragement, for the year that 
began with the battle of Princeton (1777) was to test their 
courage and loyalty to the uttermost. 

THE FAILURE OF BURGOYNE’s INVASION AND THE SUR¬ 
RENDER OF HIS ARMY RESULT IN A TREATY 
WITH FRANCE AND MILITARY AID 

It had become plain to the British that if they could get 
control of the Hudson River, thus cutting off New Eng- 


GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 187 


land from the other States, the Americans could be easily 
defeated. They adopted this plan: Burgoyne, with nearly 
8,000 men, was to march from Canada, by way of Lake 
Champlain and Fort Edward, to Albany, where he was 
to meet a small force of British, who also were to come 
from Canada by way of the Mohawk valley. The main 
army of 18,000 men, under General Howe, was expected to 
sail up the Hudson from New York. The plan might have 
succeeded if General Howe had done his part. Let us see 
what happened. 

Howe thought that before going up the Hudson to meet 
Burgoyne, he would march across New Jersey and capture 
Philadelphia. It seemed an easy thing to do. But Wash¬ 
ington’s army proving to be a greater hindrance than he had 
expected, he returned to New York and sailed with his 
army for Chesapeake Bay. Again he was hindered. The 
voyage took two months, much longer than he expected. 

When at length he landed and advanced toward Phila¬ 
delphia, he was still held back. Washington’s army at 
Brandywine Creek grimly confronted him. Here a battle 
was fought and, although the Americans were defeated, 
Washington handled his army in such a way that it took 
Howe two weeks to reach Philadelphia, only twenty-six 
miles from the field of battle. 

Thus Washington had skilfully held Howe until it was 
too late for him to go to Burgoyne. 

Burgoyne’s troubles were piling up. Not only had 



188 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

Howe disappointed him, but the army which he had ex¬ 
pected from the Mohawk valley had been forced to retreat 
to Canada. He was therefore in a difficult position. The 


General Burgoyne Surrendering to General Gates. 

Americans were blocking his advance, and they were also 
in the rear, preventing his retreat and holding up his sup¬ 
plies from Canada. He could not move in either direction. 

Thus left to himself, there was nothing for him to 
do but fight or surrender. Like a good soldier he fought, 
and the result was two battles near Saratoga, in which the 







GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 189 

• 7 


British were defeated. On October 17, 1777 , Burgoyne had 
to surrender his entire army of 6,000 regular troops. Such 
was the way in which the British plan worked out. The 
result was a great blow to England. 

To America, on the other hand, the victory was a cause 
for joy. It made hope stronger at home; it won confidence 
abroad. France had been watching closely to see whether 
the Americans were likely to win, before giving open aid. 
Now she was quite willing to enter into a treaty with them, 
even though such a course should lead to war with England. 

In bringing about this treaty with France, Benjamin 
Franklin played a prominent part. After the adoption of 
the Declaration of Independence—and you will remember 
that he was a member of the committee appointed to draft 
that great state paper—he was sent by Congress to France 
to ask aid for the American cause. His simple dress and 
quiet manner must have contrasted strangely with the 
fashion and elegance of the French court. But as a true¬ 
hearted man he was welcomed. Feasts and parades were 
given in his honor, and his picture was displayed in public 
places. His personal influence went far toward securing 
the aid which France gave us. 

LAFAYETTE JOINS THE AMERICAN ARMY 

Even before our treaty with France, she had secretly 
sent us aid, both in money and army supplies. Able French¬ 
men also had crossed the Atlantic to join our army. 



190 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


The most noted French officer in the American army 
was the Marquis de Lafayette. The circumstances under 
which he came were quite romantic. He was but nineteen 
when he heard for the first time at a dinner-party the story 
of the American people fighting for their liberty. It inter¬ 
ested and deeply moved him. For in his own land a desire 

for freedom had been growing, 
and he had been in sympathy 
with it. Now he made it his 
business to find out more about 
this war, and then he quickly 
decided to help all he could. 

He belonged to one of the 
noblest families of France, and 
was very wealthy. He had a 
young wife and a baby, whom 
he regretted to leave, but he 
believed that his duty called 
him to join the cause of free¬ 
dom. His wife was proud of the lofty purpose of her 
noble husband, and encouraged him to cany out his plan. 

His family, however, being one of influence, were veiy 
angry when he made known his purpose, and tried to pre¬ 
vent his leaving France. They put so many obstacles in 
his way that he had to buy a ship and supplies with his 
own money. Then, disguising himself as a post-boy, he 
got away without being found out. 



Marquis de Lafayette. 


GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 191 


Arriving at Philadelphia, he was cordially received by 
Congress and given the rank of major-general. In accept- 
ing it, Lafayette asked that he might serve without pay. 
He proved to be a very lovable young man, and a warm 



Lafayette Offering His Services to Franklin. 


friendship sprang up between him and Washington. He 
became a member of Washington’s military family, and was 
always proud to serve his chief. He spent his money freely 
and risked his life to help the cause of American liberty, an 
unselfish service which we can never forget. 

At the close of the year 1777 Washington moved the 
army to Valley Forge to spend the winter. This was a 



























192 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


strong position among the hills about twenty miles north¬ 
west of Philadelphia. 

It was a period of intense suffering. “For some days 



Winter at Valley Forge. 


past/’ wrote Washington, “there has been little less than 
famine in the camp.” Most of the soldiers were in rags, 
only a few had bed-clothing. Many had to sit by the fire 















GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 193 


all night to keep warm, and some of the sick soldiers were 
without beds, or even loose straw to lie upon. Nearly 
3,000 were barefoot, and many had frozen feet because of 
the lack of shoes. It makes one heart-sick to read about 
what these brave men passed through during that wretched 
winter. 

Yet, in spite of bitter trials and distressing times, Wash¬ 
ington never doubted that in the end the American cause 
would triumph. A beautiful story is told showing his 
courageous faith while in the midst of these pitiful scenes. 

One day when “Friend Potts/’ a good Quaker farmer, 
was near the camp, he saw Washington on his knees in the 
woods, his cheeks wet with tears, praying for help and gui¬ 
dance. WTien the farmer returned to his home, he said to 
his wife: “George Washington will succeed ! George Wash¬ 
ington will succeed! The Americans will secure their in¬ 
dependence.” 

“What makes thee think so, Isaac?” inquired his wife. 

“I have heard him pray, Hannah, out in the woods 
to-day, and the Lord will surely hear his prayer. He will, 
Hannah; thee may rest assured He will.” 

Many events happened between this winter at Valley 
Forge and the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, but 
never again while the war lasted was the sky so dark. 
Washington was leading his army through the valley of 
despair. We cannot follow him through the remainder of 
the war, which, under his loyal and competent leadership, 


194 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


was brought to a successful close. But we shall meet him 
later when his'country once more seeks his firm and wise 
guidance. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Why was Washington better fitted than any other man to be com¬ 

mander-in-chief of the army? What kind of army did Washington 
have when he took command at Cambridge? 

2. Read the Declaration of Independence. When was it signed? What 

kind of men were the signers ? What risks did they run in signing 
such a document? What did the Declaration of Independence 
mean to the future of America? 

3. How did Washington show his ability as a general at New York? 

What great mistake did General Howe make at that time? 

4. What did Nathan Hale do? Why was his task so hazardous? What 

kind of courage did it call for? 

5. Imagine yourself with Washington in the attack upon Trenton, and 

tell what happened. 

G. Trace on the map Burgoyne’s expedition. What did he expect to ac¬ 
complish? What were the results of the capture of Burgoyne? 

7. Who was Lafayette, and what did he do for the American cause? 

8. Describe as well as you can the sufferings of the Americans at Valley 

Forge. 

9. What were the qualities in Washington’s character that placed him 

so high in the hearts of the people? Do you think the struggle for 
independence would have been successful without such leadership 
as his? 


CHAPTER XV 


NATHANAEL GREENE AND OTHER HEROES UPHOLD 
AMERICA’S CAUSE IN THE SOUTH 

GREENE IS ONE OF WASHINGTON’S MOST TRUSTED GENERALS 

We have given a rapid glance at the part which Wash¬ 
ington took in the Revolution. He, as commander-in-chief, 
stands first. But he would have 
been quick to say that much 
of the credit for the success in 
that uneven struggle was due to 
the able generals who carried 
out his plans. Standing next 
to Washington himself as a 
military leader was Nathanael 
Greene. 

As you remember, the first 
fighting of the Revolution was 
in New England, near Boston. 

Failing there, the British tried to get control of the Hudson 

River and the Middle States, and again they were baffled. 

One course remained, and that was to get control of the 

Southern States. Beginning in Georgia, they captured 

Savannah. Two years later, in May (1780), they captured 

195 



Nathanael Greene. 


196 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


General Lincoln and all his force at Charleston and in the 
following August badly defeated General Gates at Camden, 
South Carolina, where, as successor to General Lincoln, he 
was commanding a new army. 

The patriot cause was suffering. Unless a skilful gen¬ 
eral should take charge in the South, the British would soon 
have possession. Washington had great faith in General 
Greene, and appointed him to this field. Let us see what 
led the commander-in-chief to choose him. 

Nathanael Greene was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, 
in 1742. His father, who on week-days was a blacksmith 
and miller, on Sundays was a Quaker preacher. Nathanael 
was trained to work at the forge and in the mill and in the 
fields as well. He was robust and active and, like young 
George Washington, a leader in outdoor sports. But with 
all his other activities he was also, like young Samuel 
Adams, a good student of books. 

We like to think of these colonial boys going to school 
and playing at games just as boys do now, quite unaware 
of the great things waiting for them to do in the world. 
Had they known of their future, they could have prepared 
in no better way than by taking their faithful part in the 
work and honest sport of each day as it came. 

Greene, being ten years younger than Washington, was 
about thirty-two years old when the “Boston Tea Party” 
and those other exciting events ushered in the Revolution. 

Although news did not travel so rapidly then as now, 


NATHANAEL GREENE 


197 


Greene was soon aware that war was likely to break out at 
any time, and he took an active part in preparing for it. 
He helped to organize a company of soldiers and made the 
trip from Rhode Island to Boston to get a musket for 
himself. In Boston he 
watched with much in¬ 
terest the British regu¬ 
lars taking their drill, 
and brought back not 
only a musket, hidden 
under some straw in his 
wagon, but also a run¬ 
away British soldier, 
who was to drill his 
company. 

When the battle of 
Bunker Hill proved that 
the war had actually 
begun, Rhode Island 
raised three regiments of troops, and placed Greene at their 
head as general. On Washington’s arrival to take com¬ 
mand of the American troops at Boston, General Greene 
had the honor of welcoming him in the name of the army. 

GENERAL GREENE FACES A MOST DIFFICULT TASK 

Greene was a stalwart man six feet tall, with a frank in¬ 
telligent face. Quickly he won the friendship and confidence 





198 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


of Washington, who always trusted him with positions calling 
for courage and ability. That explains why he was chosen, 
in 1780, as commander of the American army in the South. 
When General Greene reached the Carolinas in De- 



The Meeting of Greene and Gates upon Greene’s Assuming Command. 


cember, he found the army in a pitiable condition. There 
was but one blanket for every three soldiers, and only 
enough food to last three days. The soldiers had lost heart 
because of defeat ; they were angiy because they had not 
been paid, and many were ill because they had not enough 







NATHANAEL GREENE 


199 


to eat. They camped in rude huts made of fence-rails, 
corn-stalks, and brushwood. 

General Greene set to work with a will to make his army 
fit and to inspire the men with his own courage. By wise 
planning, hard labor, and skilful handling of the army, he 
managed to get food and supplies, and put new spirit into 
his men. Thus he was able to ward off the enemy. 

Soon he won the confidence and love of both officers and 
soldiers. A story is told that shows his s}Tnpathy for them 
and their faith in him. On one occasion Greene said to a 
barefoot sentinel: u How you must suffer from cold !” Not 
knowing that he spoke to his general, the soldier replied: 
“I do not complain. I know I should have what I need if 
our general could get supplies.” It was indeed fortunate 
for General Greene that in this time of need his men were 
so loyal to him. 

daniel Morgan, the great rifleman, wins a brilliant 

VICTORY OVER COLONEL TARLETON 

Among Greene’s officers was one who later became noted 
for his brilliant, daring exploits. This was Daniel Morgan, 
the great rifleman. You will be interested to hear some of 
his thrilling experiences. 

When about nineteen years old, Morgan began his mili¬ 
tary career as a teamster in Braddock’s army, and at the 
time of Braddock’s defeat he did good service bringing 
wounded men off the battle-field. It was about this time 


200 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


that he became known to Washington, who liked and 
trusted him. The young man was so dependable and 
brave that he was steadily promoted. 

During the Revolution his services were, in more than 
one critical situation, of great value to the American cause. 
In the campaign which ended with Burgoyne’s defeat, for 
instance, his riflemen fought like heroes. General Bur- 
goyne, after his surrender, exclaimed to General Morgan: 
“Sir, you command the finest regiment in the world.” 

Indeed, it was regarded at that time as the best regi¬ 
ment in the American army, and this was largely due to 
Morgan’s ability in handling his men. He made them feel 
as if they were one family. He was always thoughtful for 
their health and comfort, and he appealed to their pride, 
but never to their fear. 

He was a very tall and strong man, with handsome 
features and a remarkable power to endure. His manner 
was quiet and refined, and his noble bearing indicated a 
high sense of honor. He was liked by his companions be¬ 
cause he was always good-natured and ready for the most 
daring adventure. 

General Greene made good use of this true patriot, and 
not long after taking command of the army he sent Mor¬ 
gan with 900 picked men westward to threaten the British 
outposts. General Cornwallis, in command of the British 
army in the South, ordered Colonel Tarleton to lead a body 
of soldiers against Morgan. 


NATHANAEL GREENE 


201 


Early in the morning of January 17, 1781, after a hard 
night march, Tarleton, overconfident of success, attacked 
Morgan at Cowpens, in the northern part of South Caro¬ 
lina. The Americans stood up bravely against the attack 
and won a brilliant victory. The British lost almost their 
entire force, including 600 prisoners. 

Cornwallis was bitterly disappointed, for his plan, under¬ 
taken in such confidence, had ended in a crushing defeat. 
However, gathering his forces together, he set out to march 
rapidly across country in pursuit of Morgan, hoping to 
overwhelm him and recapture the 600 British prisoners 
before he could join Greene’s army. But Morgan was too 
wary to be caught napping, and, suspecting that this would 
be Cornwallis’s game, he retreated rapidly in a northeasterly 
direction toward that part of the army under Greene. 

Meantime Greene had heard the glorious news of the 
American victory at Cowpens, and he too realized that 
there was great danger of Morgan’s falling into the hands 
of Cornwallis. To prevent this, and at the same time to 
draw Cornwallis far away from his supplies at Wilmington, 
he decided to go to Morgan’s relief. 

Sending his army by an easier, roundabout route, he 
himself with a small guard rode swiftly a distance of 150 
miles across the rough country, and joined Morgan on the 
last day of January. 

Morgan was cleverly retreating, with Cornwallis in hot 
pursuit. For ten days the race continued. The chances 


202 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


were in favor of Cornwallis, for his army was larger, besides 
being trained and disciplined. But Greene was so alert 
and skilful that he escaped eveiy danger and saved his 
army. 

In this exciting campaign valuable aid was given by 
“partisans” in the South. These were private companies, 
not part of the regular army. They had been formed in the 
South by both sides, and that is why they were called 
“ partisans.” 

SOME EXPLOITS OF MARION’s FAMOUS BRIGADE. THE BRITISH 

CALL HIM THE U SWAMP FOx” 

Perhaps the most noted partisan leader was Francis 

Marion. He was born in George¬ 
town, South Carolina, in 1732, and 
was therefore the same age as 
Washington. Although as a child 
he was frail, he became a strong 
man, short and slight of frame, but 
hardy in constitution. 

When the British began to 
swarm into South Carolina, Marion 
raised and drilled a company of 
neighbors and friends, known as 
“Marion’s Brigade.” These men 
were without uniforms or tents, and they served without pay. 
They did not look much like soldiers on parade, but were 



Francis Marion. 





NATHANAEL GREENE 203 

among the bravest and best fighters of the Revolution. 
Their swords were beaten out of old mill-saws at the coun¬ 
try forge, and their bullets were made largely from pewter 
mugs and other pewter utensils. Their rations were very 


Marion Surprising a British Wagon-Train 

scant and simple. Marion, their leader, as a rule ate hominy 
and potatoes, and drank water flavored with a little vinegar. 

The story is told that one day a British officer came to 
the camp with a flag of truce. After the officers had talked, 
Marion, with his usual courtesy, invited the visitor to dinner. 
We can imagine the Englishman’s surprise when, on a log 
which made the camp table, there was served a dinner con- 
sisting only of roasted sweet potatoes passed on pieces of 



204 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


bark ! The officer was still more amazed to learn that even 
potatoes were something of a luxury. 

Marion’s brigade of farmers and hunters seldom num¬ 
bered more than seventy, and often less than twenty. But 
with this small force he annoyed the British beyond measure 
by rescuing prisoners and capturing supply-trains and out¬ 
posts. 

It was the custom of his men, when hard pressed by a 
superior force, to scatter, each man looking out for himself. 
Often they would dash headlong into a dense, dark swamp, 
to meet again at some place agreed upon. Even while 
they were still in hiding they would sometimes dart out 
just as suddenly as they had disappeared, and surprise 
another squad of British which might be near at hand. 
“Swamp Fox” was the name the British gave to Marion. 


GREENE PROVES MORE THAN A MATCH FOR CORNWALLIS 

With the aid of such partisan bands, and with skilful 
handling of his army, Greene was more than a match for 
Cornwallis. He was not strong enough just yet for a 
pitched battle, but he kept Cornwallis chasing without 
losing his own army. That was about all he could hope 
to do for a while. 

But when later he received recruits from Virginia, he 
thought it wise to strike a blow, even though he could not 
win a victory. Turning, therefore, upon his enemy, he 


NATHANAEL GREENE 


205 


fought a battle at Guilford Court House, North Carolina 
(March, 1781). 

He was defeated, but came off as well as he expected, 
and so crippled the British army that Cornwallis had to 
retreat. He went to the coast to get supplies for his half- 
starved men. Like the battle of Bunker Hill, this was a 
dearly bought victory for the British. 

Cornwallis now saw clearly that he could not hope 
longer for success in the South, and having taken on fresh 
supplies, he marched northward to try his luck at York- 
town, Virginia. 


WITH THE AID OF THE FRENCH FLEET AND ARMY WASH¬ 
INGTON WINS A BRILLIANT VICTORY THAT 
PRACTICALLY ENDS THE WAR 

Washington, with an army of French and American 
troops, was in camp on the Hudson River, waiting for the 
coming of the French fleet to New York. That city was 
still in the hands of the British. As soon as the fleet 
should arrive, Washington expected to attack the British 
army in New York by land, while the fleet attacked by sea. 

But the French headed for the Chesapeake instead of 
New York, as expected. When this information came to 
Washington, he worked out a bold and brilliant scheme. 
It was to march his army as quickly and as secretly as pos¬ 
sible to Yorktown, a distance of 400 miles, there join the 
American army under Lafayette, and, combining with the 


206 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


French fleet on its arrival, capture the British under Corn¬ 
wallis. 

It was a daring scheme and full of danger, but it suc¬ 
ceeded so well that Washington accomplished his purpose 
completely. On October 19, 17S1, Cornwallis was forced 
to surrender his entire army of 8,000 men. 

The surrender at Yorktown ended the fighting, although 
the treaty of peace was not signed until 1783. By that 
treaty the Americans won their independence from Eng¬ 
land. The country which they could now call their own 
extended from Canada to Florida, and from the Atlantic 
Ocean to the Mississippi River. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell what you can about General Greene’s early life. 

2. What was the condition of his army when he took command in the 

South ? How did he prove his strength at that time ? What was 
the great task before him? 

3. Locate on the map the scene of Greene’s operations against Corn¬ 

wallis. 

4. What kind of man was Daniel Morgan, and what do you think of him ? 

5. Tell all you can about Marion, the “Swamp Fox,” and his ways of 

making trouble for the British. 

6. How did the co-operation of the French make possible the final great 

victory at Yorktown? 

7. When did the Revolution begin? When did it end? What did the 

Americans win by the treaty? Show on the map the extent of 
our country following the treaty. 

8. Name and locate the original thirteen states which gained their inde¬ 

pendence. 


CHAPTER XVI 


JOHN PAUL JONES IS THE FIRST GREAT SEA- 
CAPTAIN OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 

While the Revolution was being fought out on the 
land, important battles were taking place also at sea. 
Until this war began, the Americans had no need of a navy 
because the mother country 
had protected them. But when 
unfriendly feeling arose, Con¬ 
gress ordered war-vessels to be 
built. These were very useful 
in capturing British vessels, 
many of which were loaded 
with arms and ammunition 
intended for British soldiers. 

Powder, as you will remem¬ 
ber, was sorely needed by 
Washington’s army. 

Among the men who commanded the American war- 
vessels were some sea-captains who became famous, the 
most noted being John Paul Jones. 

He was of Scottish birth. His father, John Paul, was a 

gardener, who lived on the southwestern coast of Scotland. 

The cottage in which our hero spent his early boyhood days 

207 



John Paul Jones. 



208 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


stood near the beautiful bay called Solway Firth, which 
made a safe harbor for ships in time of storm. 

Here little John Paul heard many sailors tell thrilling 
stories of adventure at sea and in far-away lands. Here, 
also, to the inlets along the shore, the active lad and his 
playmates took their tiny boats and made believe they were 
sailors, John Paul always acting as captain. Sometimes 
when he was tired and alone, he would sit by the hour 
watching the big waves rolling in, and dreaming perhaps of 
the day when he would become a great sea-captain. 

When he was only twelve, he wished to begin his life 
as a real sailor, and his father apprenticed him to a mer¬ 
chant at Whitehaven, England, who owned a vessel and 
traded in foreign lands. Soon John Paul went on a voyage 
to Virginia, and while the vessel was being loaded with 
tobacco, he visited an older brother, who owned a planta¬ 
tion at Fredericksburg. 

For six years John Paul remained with the Whitehaven 
merchant, learning much about good seamanship. After 
the merchant failed in business, John Paul still continued 
to follow a seafaring life, and in a short time became a 
captain. But his life at sea was interrupted when his 
brother in Virginia died, for he went to Fredericksburg to 
manage his brother’s plantation. 

It was now his intention to spend the rest of his life 
here, but, like Patrick Henry, he failed as a farmer. It 
would seem that the sea was always calling to him. 


JOHN PAUL JONES 


209 


When, therefore, the Revolution broke out, he offered 
his services to Congress, and at that time changed his name 
to John Paul Jones. Just why, we do not know. 

Congress appointed him a first lieutenant, and in the 
second year of the war put him in command of two vessels. 
With these he captured sixteen prizes in six weeks. 

In the following year he was appointed captain of the 
Ranger, and sent to France with letters to Benjamin Frank¬ 
lin, who was then American commissioner at the French 
court, trying to secure aid for the American cause. 

At that time English vessels were annoying American 
coasts by burning and destroying property. Jones got per¬ 
mission from Franklin to attack British coasts in the same 
way, and he was allowed to sail from France in the Ranger 
with that purpose in view. 

His plan was to skirt the western coast of England and 
set fire to the large shipping-yards at Whitehaven, the har¬ 
bor he knew so well in boyhood. He meant to burn all 
the 300 vessels lying at anchor there. Although he set fire 
to only one large ship, he alarmed the people along the 
whole coast. The warning was carried from town to town: 
“Beware of Paul Jones, the pirate!” 

An English war-vessel, the Drake, was sent out to cap¬ 
ture the Ranger. As the Drake carried two more guns 
and a crew better drilled for fighting, it was thought she 
would make short work of the American ship. But after a 
battle of an hour she surrendered. The English vessel lost 


210 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

many men, while the Ranger lost only two men killed and 
six wounded. 

After this brilliant victory the young captain put back 
to France. There he found great rejoicing among the peo- 



Battle Between the Ranger and the Drake. 


pie, whose good-will was more with America than with 
England. And as war had already broken out between 
France and England, the French king was quite willing to 
furnish Jones with a considerable naval force. 

CAPTAIN JONES HARASSES THE COASTS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
AND IS VICTORIOUS IN A DESPERATE SEA DUEL 

In August, 1779, Captain Jones put to sea with a fleet 








JOHN PAUL JONES 


211 


of four vessels. He named his flag-ship Bon Homme 
Richard (bonom're-shar') after the Richard of “Poor 
Richard’s Almanack/’ which, you will remember, Benjamin 
Franklin had written. 

In this ship, which was old, he set out to cruise along 
the western coast of Ireland, searching for English merchant 
vessels. He continued his cruise northward around Scot¬ 
land and down its eastern coast. Then he sailed up and 
down the eastern coast of England, still seeking merchant 
vessels. 

At noon on the 23d of September Jones sighted a fleet 
of forty-two merchantmen, guarded by two English ships 
of war, all sailing from the north. He at once decided to 
make an attack, which he began early in the evening. The 
action was mainly between the Richard and the English 
man-of-war Serapis, which was a large ship, new and swift, 
and veiy much better than the Richard. 

During the first hour the American vessel got the worst 
of the fight, and “was leaking like a basket.” The English 
captain, feeling sure of victory, called out: “Has your ship 
struck?” Paul Jones shouted back: “I have not yet 
begun to fight!” 

As the British vessel came alongside his own for a more 
deadly struggle, Jones with his own hands lashed the two 
together. Soon both were badly leaking, but the fighting 
went on as fiercely as ever. Presently both caught fire. 
Then Jones turned his cannon upon the mainmast of the 


212 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


Serapis, and when it threatened to fall the English captain 
surrendered. The Richard could not have held out much 
longer, for she had already begun to sink. But after all it 
was the English ship and not the American that “struck” 
the flag. 

This desperate sea duel lasted from half past seven in 
the evening until ten o’clock. It was important in its re¬ 
sults, for it won much-needed respect for our flag, and gave 
a wonderful uplift to the American cause. The victor, 
John Paul Jones, who was loaded with honors, from that 
day took rank with the great sea-captains of the world. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell all you can about the early life of John Paul Jones. How did he, 

even in boyhood, show his ability to lead others? 

2. Why did the English call him a pirate when he was sailing along the 

British coasts in order to destroy property? 

3. What was the outcome of the desperate sea duel between the Bon 

Homme Richard and the Serapis? 

4. What would a strong navy have meant to the Americans in the war 

for independence? 


CHAPTER, XVII 


FAMOUS BACKWOODSMEN WHO DARE TO CROSS 
THE MOUNTAINS INTO THE VALLEYS OF 
THE OHIO AND THE TENNESSEE 

EVEN AS A BOY DANIEL BOONE IS SKILFUL IN HUNTING 

AND WOODCRAFT 

You remember that when the Last French War began, 
in 1756, the English colonists lived almost entirely east of 
the Alleghany Mountains. If you will look at your map, 
you will see how small a part of our present great country 
they occupied. 

Even up to the beginning of the Revolution there were 
few settlers west of the Alleghanies, where the Americans 
had done little to make good their claim to the land. But 
at the close of the war our western boundary-line had been 
pushed as far as the Mississippi River. This was done by 
the early hunters and backwoodsmen who did great service 
in opening up Western lands. 

One of the most famous of these pioneers was Daniel 
Boone, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1735. As a boy, 
Daniel liked to wander in the woods with musket and 
fishing-rod, and was never so happy as when alone in the 
wild forest. The story is told that while a mere lad he 

built himself a rough shelter of logs some distance from 

213 


214 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


home, and there he would spend days at a time, with only 
his rifle for company. 

As he learned early to shoot, we may be sure he never 
went hungry. The game which his rifle brought down he 

would cook over a pile of burn¬ 
ing sticks, and we can almost 
taste its woodland flavor. 
Then at night on his bed of 
leaves, under a starlit sky, with 
a pelt for covering, he would 
fall into dreamless slumber. A 
prince might have envied him. 

When he was about thir¬ 
teen years old, his father re¬ 
moved to North Carolina and 
settled on the Yadkin River, 
and there the boy grew to manhood. After his marriage, 
at twenty, he built himself a hut far out in the forest, be¬ 
yond the homes of the other settlers. But he was a rest¬ 
less man and he looked with longing toward the rugged 
mountains in the west. 

BOONE MAKES HIS FIRST SCOUTING TRIPS INTO KENTUCKY 
WHERE THE EARLIEST ATTEMPT AT SETTLEMENT 

ENDS IN DISASTER 

Boone was twenty-five when he made the first long 
hunt we know about; and ten years later he went with 




FAMOUS BACKWOODSMEN 


215 


four other hunters to explore the wilderness of Kentucky. 
The life in the forest was one of danger and hardship, and 
part of the time he was alone. 

The country pleased him so well that by September, 
1773, he sold his farm in North Carolina and went to set¬ 
tle in Kentucky. Besides his wife and children, five other 
families and forty men, driving their horses and cattle 
before them, joined his party. 

But while still on its way, near a narrow and difficult 
pass in the mountains, the little company was set upon by 
a band of Indians. Six men were killed, among them Boone’s 
eldest son, and the cattle were scattered. This misfortune 
caused the company to turn back to a settlement on the 
Clinch River. But Daniel Boone was not one to give up, 
and he could not forget the beautiful Kentucky region. 

It had already become well known by report. The 
Indians called it “a dark and bloody ground,” for, as an 
old chief told Boone, the Indians had roamed over it for 
hundreds of years and many tribes hunted and fought there. 

But since none of the tribes really owned the land, it was 
not possible to buy any part of it outright. Yet, to avoid 
strife, a friend of Boone, Richard Henderson, and a few 
others made treaties with the most powerful tribe, the 
Cherokees, who said that they might settle there. 

As soon as it became certain that the Indians would 
not make trouble, Henderson sent Boone, in charge of thirty 
men, to open a pathway from the Holston River on the 


216 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


east through Cumberland Gap to the Kentucky River. 
This pathway was the beginning of the famous “ Wilder¬ 
ness Road.” 

BOONE MAKES A PERMANENT SETTLEMENT AT BOONES- 

BOROUGH 

When Boone and his followers reached the Kentucky 
River, they built a fort on its left bank and called it Boones- 
borough. Then Boone went back to the Clinch River and 
brought on his wife and children. This fort, with the out¬ 
lying cabins, made the first permanent settlement in Ken¬ 
tucky. 

Boone was a man you would have liked to know. Even 
the Indians admired him. He was tall and slender, with 
muscles of iron, and so strong that he could endure great 
hardship. Though quiet and serious, his courage never 
failed in face of danger, and men trusted him. He was 
kind, too, and sympathetic, and made lasting friendships. 
His vigorous and sterling qualities commanded respect 
everywhere. 

As a rule he wore the Indian garb of fur cap, fringed 
hunting-shirt, moccasins, and leggings, all made from the 
skins of fur-bearing animals, because this was best suited 
to his surroundings. 

Life in such wild country was not without its ex¬ 
citing adventures. One nearly caused the settlement to 
lose its leader, and came about through the need of salt. 


FAMOUS BACKWOODSMEN 


217 


We get salt so easily that it is hard to imagine the difficulty 
which those settlers, living far back from the ocean, had in 
obtaining this necessary part of their food. They had to 
get it from “ salt¬ 
licks,” as they 
called the grounds 
about the salt¬ 
water springs. 

The men would 
boil the salt water 
from the springs 
until the water 
evaporated, leav¬ 
ing the salt. 

Boone with 
twenty-nine other 
men had gone, 
early in 1778, to the Blue Licks to make salt for the set¬ 
tlement. In a few weeks they were able to send back a 
load so large that it took three men to carry it. Hardly had 
they started, however, when the men remaining, including 
Boone, were surprised by eighty or ninety Indians and cap¬ 
tured. 

The Indians admired Boone because he was a mighty 
hunter, and they liked him because he was cheerful. So 
they took him to their home and adopted him into the tribe. 

He remained with them two months, making the best 



Boonesborough. 


























































218 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


of the life he had to lead. But when he overheard the In¬ 
dians planning to attack Boonesborough, he made up his 
mind to escape and give his friends warning. 

He arrived in Boonesborough after a journey of 160 
miles, during which he had but one meal, for he dared not 
use his gun nor build a fire for fear his foes might find out 
where he was. He reached the fort in time to help in beat¬ 
ing off the attacking party. This is only one of the many 
narrow and thrilling escapes of this fearless backwoods¬ 
man, who for years continued to be the able leader of the 
settlers at Boonesborough. 

But after Kentucky was admitted as a state into the 
Union (1791), Boonesborough became too tame for the bold 
hunter, and four years later he moved still farther west. 
The wild, lonely life of the forest never lost its charm for 
him, even down to his last days. 

JAMES ROBERTSON AND JOHN SEVIER ARE DARING LEADERS 
IN THE SETTLEMENT OF TENNESSEE 

Another pioneer of these days was James Robertson, 
born in Virginia in 1742. Like Boone, he was a noted 
hunter; but hunting and exploring were not his reasons for 
going into the wilderness. He was, first of all, a pioneer 
settler seeking rich farming lands to make a good home for 
his family. 

With this purpose, he left his home in North Carolina in 
1770, when he was twenty-eight, to seek his fortune in the 


FAMOUS BACKWOODSMEN 


219 


mountains, whose summits he could see far away to the 
west. With no companion but his horse and no protec 1 - 
tion but his rifle, he slowly and patiently made his way 
through the trackless woods, crossing mountain range after 
mountain range, until he came to the region where the rivers 
began to flow toward the west. 

He brought home such glowing accounts of this wonder¬ 
ful country that by the following spring (1771) sixteen fam- 



Early Settlements in Kentucky and Tennessee. 


ilies were ready to go with him to make a settlement. Ar¬ 
riving at the Watauga River, the newcomers joined some 
Virginians who were already on the ground. 

Robertson soon became one of the leading men, and was 
very prosperous and successful; but after eight years a rest¬ 
less craving for change and adventure stole over him, and 
he pushed on once more to seek a new home still deeper in 
the forest. 











220 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


The place he chose was the beautiful country lying along 
the great bend of the Cumberland River. Other bold 
pioneers eagerly joined him in the new venture, and took 
up the work of making a new settlement. This was the 
beginning of Nashville. Robertson’s leadership was of the 
greatest service to the Tennessee settlers. 

Another daring leader who did much to build up the 
settlements in Tennessee was John Sevier. Born in Vir¬ 
ginia in 1745, Sevier was but three years younger than Rob¬ 
ertson, and was closely associated with him in later life. 

He left school when he was sixteen and married before 
he was seventeen. About six miles from his father’s house 
he put up a building which was dwelling, storehouse, and 
fort all in one. Here on the frontier he carried on a thriv¬ 
ing trade with settlers and Indians, and was so successful 
that by the time he was twenty-six he was looked upon as 
a rich man. 

It was while he was engaged in his trading business that 
Sevier heard of Robertson’s settlement in the west, and 
became interested in it as a possible home for himself and 
family. In 1772 he decided to ride through the forests to 
the Watauga settlement and find out what kind of place it 
was. 

Alone over the mountains and through the woods he 
made the journey. When he met Robertson, they were 
friends at once. Sevier decided to join the settlement on 
the Watauga, and went back to bring his wife and two 


FAMOUS BACKWOODSMEN 


221 


children. Returning with them, he entered heartily into 
the common life of the frontier, with its many hardships 
and pleasures; and when, some years later, Robertson left 
AVatauga to go to the Cumberland valley, Sevier became 
the most prominent man in the colony. He was active in 
the public interests even to the last years of his long life. 

HOW THE BACKWOODSMEN LIVE 

Let us join a group of travellers as it starts out to cross 
the mountains. Each family has its pack-horse—a few 
families have two—carrying household goods. These are 
not bulky, for pioneer life is simple, and the settlers have at 
most only what they need. There are, of course, some 
rolls of bedding and clothing, a few cooking utensils, a few 
packages of salt and seed corn, and a flask or two of medi¬ 
cine. The pack-horse carries also the mother, and perhaps 
a very small child or two. The boys who are old enough to 
shoulder rifles march in front with their father, ready to 
shoot game for food, or to stand guard against Indians. 
Some of the older children drive the cows which the settlers 
are taking along with them. 

After reaching the place selected for their settlement, 
the younger children are set to clearing away the brush 
and piling it up in heaps ready for burning. The father and 
the elder sons, who are big enough to wield an axe, lose no 
time in cutting down trees and making a clearing for the 
log cabin. All work with a will, and soon the cabin is ready. 



222 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


They make the furniture also, which, like the cabin it¬ 
self, is rude and simple. A bedstead is set up in a corner, 
a wash-stand is placed near by, and a few three-legged stools 
are put here and there; and of course there is a table to 
eat at. 

If our pioneers are well to do, there may be tucked away 
in some pack a wool blanket, but usually the chief covering 
on the bed is the dried skin of some animal—deer, bear, or 
perhaps buffalo. 

There is plenty of food, though of course it is plain and 
simple, consisting mostly of game. Instead of the pork and 
beef which are largely eaten in the East, we shall find these 
settlers making their meal of bear’s meat or of venison. 
For flour corn-meal is used. Each family has a mill for 
grinding the kernels into meal, while for beating it into 
hominy they use a crude mortar, made perhaps by burning 
a hole in the top of a block of wood. 

Every backwoodsman must be able to use the rifle, for 
he has to provide his own meat and defend himself and 
family against attack. He must be skilful also in conceal¬ 
ing himself, in moving noiselessly through the forests, and 
in imitating the notes and calls of different beasts and birds. 
Sharp eyes and ears must tell him where to look for his 
game, and his aim must be swift and sure. 

But, most important of all, he must be able to endure 
hardship and exposure. Sometimes he lives for months in 
the woods with no food but meat, and no she]ter but a 



FAMOUS BACKWOODSMEN 


223 


lean-to of brush or even the trunk of a hollow tree into 
which he may crawl. 

Deer and bear are the most plentiful game; but now and 
then there is an exciting combat with wolves, panthers, or 



Living-Room of the Early Settler. 


cougars, while prowling Indians keep him ever on his guard. 
The pioneer must be strong, alert, and brave. 

Each family depends upon itself for most of the neces¬ 
saries of life. Each member has his own work. The father 
is the protector and provider; the mother is the housekeeper, 
the cook, the weaver, and the tailor. Father and sons work 
out-of-doors with axe, hoe, and sickle; while indoors the 
hum of the spinning-wheel or the clatter of the loom shows 
that mother and daughters are busily doing their part. 

The Tennessee settler, like Boone’s followers in Ken¬ 
tucky, dresses very much like the Indians, for that is the 




















































224 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 



easiest and most fitting way in which to clothe himself for 
the forest life he leads. And very fine do many stalwart 
figures appear in their fur cap and moccasins ; the loose 
trousers, or simply leggings of buckskin, and the fringed 

: hunting-shirt reach¬ 

ing nearly to the 
knees. It is held in 
by a broad belt 
having a tomahawk 
in one side and a 
knife in the other. 

While this free 
outdoor life develops 
strong and vigor¬ 
ous bodies, there is 
not much schooling 
in these backwoods 
settlements. Most 
boys and girls learn 
very little except reading and writing and very simple ci¬ 
phering, or arithmetic. If there are any schoolhouses at all, 
they are log huts, dimly lighted and furnished very scantily 
and rudely. The schoolmaster, as a rule, does not know 
much of books, and is quite untrained as a teacher. His 
discipline, though severe, is very poor. He receives only a 
little money, and for the rest of his wages he “ boards 
around” with the families of the children he teaches, mak- 


Grinding Indian Corn. 




















FAMOUS BACKWOODSMEN 


225 


ing his stay longer or shorter according to the number of 
their children in school. 

In many ways, as you see, the life of the pioneer child, 
while it was active and full of interest, was very different 
from yours. He learned, like his elders, to imitate bird¬ 
calls, to set traps, to shoot a rifle, and at twelve the little 
lad became a foot-soldier. He knew from just which loop¬ 
hole he was to shoot if the Indians attacked the fort, and 
he took pride in becoming a good marksman. He was 
carefully trained, too, to follow an Indian trail and to con¬ 
ceal his own when on the war-path—for such knowledge 
would be veiy useful to him as a hunter and fighter in the 
forests. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Describe the dangers which the backwoodsmen faced in venturing 

west of the Alleghany Mountains? 

2. How was Boone’s early training of value to him in his life-work? 

3. Daniel Boone seems to have had all the qualities needed for success 

as a pioneer. Describe the frontier. Tell all the things you would 
have to know how to do to provide yourself with food, clothing, 
and shelter. 

4. What other things would you have to know how to do to safeguard 

your life in the wilderness? 

5. How are all of these things provided for to-day? 

6. Find on the map the Cumberland Gap. Why was this pathway so 

important at that time? 

7. Find on the map the states which were later formed where Boone, 

Robertson, and Sevier were pioneers. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


HOW THE TERRITORY NORTH OF THE OHIO RIVER 

IS WON FOR AMERICA THROUGH THE FEAR¬ 
LESSNESS OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 

CLARK LAYS HIS PLANS FOR THE CAMPAIGN 

Among the foremost of those who promoted the west¬ 
ward growth of our country stands George Rogers Clark. 
He was born near Monticello, Virginia, November 19, 1752. 
He came of a good family and he received fairly good train¬ 
ing in school. But he learned much more from life than 
from books. 

AVhen twenty years old he was already a woodsman and 
surveyor on the upper Ohio, and also worked some as a 
farmer. About two years later, with measuring-rod and 
axe he moved on to Kentucky, where he continued his work 
as a surveyor. 

A deadly struggle was going on here, you remember, 
with the Indians, who had been roused by the British against 
the backwoodsmen, and in this struggle Clark became a 
leader. 

Let us see why it was that in hardly more than a year’s 
time this young man of twenty-four rose to a position of 
leadership among the settlers, and was chosen one of their 
lawmakers. 

He had a face that men trusted. His forehead was high 

O 

226 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


227 


and broad under a mass of sandy hair, and his honest blue 
eyes looked out from under shaggy eyebrows. His strong 
body could endure almost any hardship, and his splendid 
health was matched by a daring spirit. He was ready to 
face any danger, and to struggle 
against difficulties that were almost 
insurmountable. 

What he did would have been 
impossible except for these quali¬ 
ties, and we know that one does 
not come by them suddenly. It 
is only by bravely conquering the 
fears of every-day life that one 
gets them. It was in living with 

George Rogers Clark. 

him day by day that the fearless 

hunters of Kentucky recognized in him a master spirit. 

Clark, as you may imagine, was not content to remain 
in Kentucky merely as a hunter and a leader of war-parties 
to punish Indian bands. His keen mind had worked out a 
brilliant plan, and he was eager to put it through. It was 
nothing less than to conquer for his country the vast stretch 
of land lying north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi, 
now included in the present Great Lake States. 

In this vast region of forest and prairie the only settle¬ 
ments were the scattered French hamlets, begun in the 
early days of exploration, when the French occupied the 
land and traded with the Indians for fur. 




228 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


These few villages, or trading-posts, which were de¬ 
fended by forts, were scattered here and there at convenient 
places along the river courses, the three strongest forts 
being at Vincennes, on the Wabash, at Kaskaskia, and at 
Detroit. 

Clark saw that if this region should be conquered the 
prairies could be opened up for settlement. His first 
step in carrying out a plan of conquest was to secure aid 
from the governor of Virginia, who at this time was Patrick 
Henry. Early in October, 1777, he started out on horse¬ 
back to ride through the forests and over the mountains to 
Williamsburg, then the capital of the state. In his haste 
he stopped but a single day at his father’s house, the home 
of his childhood, and by pressing on he made the journey 
of 620 miles in one month. 

The governor at once fell in with Clark’s plan, and ar¬ 
ranged to furnish $6,000 for the venture. Clark was to 
raise his own company among the frontiersmen. The 
whole burden of making the necessary preparations rested 
upon him alone, but with good heart he shouldered it, and 
in May, 1778, was ready to make the journey. 

CLARK STARTS ON HIS LONG JOURNEY TO CAPTURE THE 

FORTS IN THE NORTHWEST 

With 153 men Clark started from the Redstone settle¬ 
ments, on the Monongahela River. The men did not know 
exactly where they were going, but were willing to follow 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


229 


their leader. The party stopped at both Pittsburg and 
Wheeling for needed supplies; and then in flatboats rowed 
or floated cautiously down the Ohio River. Toward the 



George Rogers Clark in the Northwest. 


last of the month; on reaching the falls near the present 
site of Louisville ; they landed on an island; where Clark 
built a fort and drilled his men. 

As they were about to take up their journey again, he 
said to them: “We are going to the Mississippi.” Some 
faint-hearted ones wished to turn back, and Clark said, 
“You may go,” for he wanted no discontented men in his 
following. From those remaining he carefully picked the 
ones who appeared strong enough to endure the hardships 
which he knew awaited them, and bidding the others good- 
by, they started off. 

Since the success of the enterprise depended upon sur- 










230 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


prising the enemy ; it was important to press forward as 
quickly and secretly as possible. The men rowed hard, 

therefore, night 
and day, until they 
came to an island 
near the mouth 
of the Tennessee 
River. There they 
landed and began 
the march across 
country to Kaskas- 
kia. 

On the evening 
of July 4 they ar¬ 
rived at the Kas- 
kaskia River, only 
three miles from 
the fort, which was 
on the opposite 
bank. After resting 
in the woods until 
dusk, they pushed on to a little farmhouse only a mile from 
the fort. Here Clark obtained boats, and silently, in the 
darkness, took his men across the river. 

In a few hours they had captured the fort and had the 
town under control. Clark made friends of the people by 
treating them kindly. 



Clark on the Way to Kaskaskia. 





GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


231 


A little later a French priest volunteered to go to Vin¬ 
cennes and try to persuade the people there to take sides 



The Officers of the Fort at Kaskaskia Were Giving a Dance When Clark 

Surprised Them. 


with the Americans. His mission was successful; the Eng¬ 
lish flag was pulled down and the American flag was raised 
over the fort. 


clark’s hard task is to hold the forts with so 

SMALL A FORCE 

Although the life was gayer in these French villages than 
in the frontier settlements, and although the taking of 
Kaskaskia and Vincennes had been easy, Clark still had a 
hard task before him. His small force was made up of 








232 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


men who were in the habit of doing as they pleased, and he 
could control them only through their personal liking for 
him. 

Furthermore, he was so many hundred miles from Vir¬ 
ginia that he must act without advice or help from the 
government. He must rely entirely upon himself. And 
we shall see whether he was equal to the situation. 

You remember that when Clark’s men started out they 
did not know how far they were to go. Now that their 
time of service was up they wanted to return. But by 
means of presents and promises Clark persuaded about a 
hundred to stay eight months longer. The others went 
home. 

A weaker man would have been quite helpless with so 
small a force. Not so Clark. His wonderful power over 
people soon won the creoles of the French villages, and 
their young men willingly took the places of the woodsmen 
who fell away. But even so, it was a light force with which 
to hold the place. . 

The British officer at Detroit, Colonel Hamilton, who 
was in command of the vast region Clark was trying to 
conquer, was a man of great energy. Receiving news of 
what Clark had done, he prepared an expedition for the 
recapture of Vincennes. 

Early in October (1779) he set out with 177 soldiers and 
60 Indians, expecting to enlist other Indians on the way. 
By the time he had reached Vincennes his entire force 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


233 


numbered about 500. The fort, as you remember, was but 
weakly defended, and it easily fell into Hamilton’s hands 
(December 17, 1779). 

If he had at once marched on to Kaskaskia, he might 
have captured Clark or driven him out of the Northwest. 
But because the weather was so cold, the route so long, and 
other difficulties were in the way, Hamilton resolved to 
wait until spring before going farther. And not expect¬ 
ing to need his soldiers before that time, he sent most of 
them back to Detroit. 

About six weeks later Clark learned from an Indian 
trader how small the garrison was at Vincennes. You may 
be sure he did not wait for the season to change. Gather¬ 
ing a force of 170 men—nearly half of them creoles—in 
seven days he was on his way to Vincennes. 

THE CAPTURE OF VINCENNES BY CLARK IS THE FINISHING 
STROKE FOR THE CONTROL OF THE NORTHWEST 

Clark set out on his march on the 7th of Februarv. 

%/ 

The route, 240 miles in length, led eastward across what is 
now Illinois. As often happens at this season, thawing 
ice and snow had caused the rivers to overflow, and mead¬ 
ows and lowlands which they had to cross were under 
water from three to five feet deep. 

We can hardly imagine the hardships of this midwinter 
journey with no houses for shelter, no roads, and no bridges 
across the swollen streams. 


234 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


When by the end of a week Clark and his men reached 
the Wabash River, they found the floods so high that the 
land between its two branches was entirely under water, 
making an expanse five miles wide. They worked three 
days building a pirogue, or dugout canoe, with which to 
cross the deeper parts, and during this time they could get 
no food, for the flood had driven the game away, so that 
there was nothing to shoot. Progress was slow and ex¬ 
tremely tiresome, for while crossing the flooded meadow- 
land, the men had to march from morning till night up to 
their waists in mud and water. 

By February 20 they were quite exhausted. There 
had been nothing to eat for nearly two days. Many of the 
creoles were so downcast that they began to talk of going 
home. Clark, with an attempt at good cheer, only laughed 
and said: “Go out and kill a deer.” 

Once on the side of the river where Vincennes stood, 
they began to feel more cheerful, for by night they expected 
to be at the fort. Yet one more bitter experience they had 
to pass through. Most of the way was still under water, 
and often they stepped into holes, dropping to their chins. 
They could only press forward, guided by their bold leader, 
until they finally reached a hillock where they spent the 
night. 

During the weary hours of this exhausting day Clark 
had labored to keep up the spirits of his men in every way 
he could. In telling about it later, he said: “I received 


GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 


235 


much help from a little antic drummer, a boy with such a 
fun-loving spirit that he made the men laugh, in spite of 
their weariness, at his pranks and jokes.” 

On starting out again the next morning some were so 
weak and famished that they had to be taken in the canoes. 





Clark’s Advance on Vincennes. 


Those who were strong enough to wade came to a place 
where the water was very deep, and, painfully struggling, 
began to huddle together as if all hope had fled. Then 
Clark suddenly blackened his face with gunpowder and, 
sounding the war-whoop like an Indian brave, fearlessly 
sprang forward. His men plunged after him without a 
word. 






236 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


By dusk they were still six miles from Vincennes. Their 
clothing was drenched, their muscles ached with weariness, 
and they were well-nigh exhausted from lack of food. To 
make matters* worse, the weather that night was bitter cold. 
But in the morning they bravely plodded onward. By the 
afternoon there was still a narrow lake to cross and a short 
march before they reached a tree-covered spot from which 
they could see the town and the fort. There they made a 
halt and, hidden by trees, prepared for the attack. 

The fighting began that night, and continued until 
Hamilton gave up both fort and garrison on the following 
day. The capture of Vincennes was the finishing stroke of 
Clark’s conquest. The whole of the vast region of the 
Northwest remained under American control until the end 
of the Revolution, when, by treaty, it formally became a 
part of our country. This was one of the boldest enter¬ 
prises ever undertaken in our history. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Who was George Rogers Clark? What was his brilliant plan? Ex¬ 

plain by use of the map just what he proposed to do. 

2. What do you feel was the most remarkable thing about his venture? 

3. Tell about the capture of the forts. How do you suppose French people 

came to be living in English territory? 

4. How do you account for Clark’s success as a leader? 

5. Why are we greatly indebted to Clark? 

6. Indicate on the map the extent of the territory he won for his coun¬ 

try. What states were later formed from this Northwest Terri¬ 
tory? 


CHAPTER XIX 


THE NEW REPUBLIC, THE UNITED STATES OF 

AMERICA, IS LAUNCHED 

JAMES MADISON AND ALEXANDER HAMILTON PLAY A LARGE 

PART IN PERFECTING A NEW TYPE OF GOVERNMENT 

During the Revolution, as we have learned, the army 
and the navy were controlled by the Continental Congress. 
But Congress was weak because it had no power to raise 
money by taxing the people. It could go to war with any 
unfriendly country, but it could not raise money for build¬ 
ing forts or for paying soldiers. You remember that the 
American colonists took up arms against England because 
she tried to compel them to pay taxes which their own law¬ 
making bodies had not levied. During the war they still 
refused to pay any taxes which were not levied by their 
own states. 

While fighting for their independence, the sense of dan¬ 
ger caused the people to do some things that they would 
not do in times of peace. When the fighting ended, how¬ 
ever, the separate states became selfish and petty in many 
ways. Each one began to act only for its own interests, 
without thinking of the welfare of the others. They all 
lacked the spirit of union. 

One of the ways in which the states made plain this 

237 


238 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


selfish spirit was through their trade laws. New York, for 
instance ; caused a serious clash with both Connecticut and 
New Jersey; by laying a duty on firewood coming from the 
one state and on cheese, butter, chickens, and vegetables 
coming from the other. As a result, the merchants of Con¬ 
necticut agreed that they would not trade with the people 
of New York, and New Jersey required New York to pay 
$1,800 a year for the use of the land on which New York 
had built a lighthouse. Other states had troubles of the 
same kind. 

There were disagreements about boundaries and land 
also. The most important of these was about the North¬ 
west Territory, that vast area of land which George Rogers 
Clark and his men had won for their country. New York, 
Connecticut, and Massachusetts each claimed a part, and 
Virginia claimed nearly all of it. But at last they agreed 
that the Northwest Territory should belong to the whole 
country. 

Amid all these troubles, however, Congress could do 
nothing. And the people of the thirteen states saw clearly 
that if they wished to have a strong country they must 
unite and work together under a strong government. With 
this thought in mind they sent some of their ablest men 
to a meeting, or convention, which was held in Indepen¬ 
dence Hall, Philadelphia, to work out a new plan. 

These men spent four months in preparing the new form 
of government, which they called the Constitution. This 


THE NEW REPUBLIC IS LAUNCHED 


239 


provided for three departments like those in the states. 
A body of men were to make the laws; this was Congress. 
Some one was to see that the laws were carried out; this 
was the President. There were to be bodies to explain the 
meaning of the laws passed by Congress and to try cases 
arising under them: these were the courts. The highest 
was called the Supreme Court. 

The convention had to decide many troublesome ques¬ 
tions. One of these was how Congress should be made up. 
It was finally agreed that each state should have two men 
to represent it in the Senate, but that in the House the num¬ 
ber of representatives should depend upon the number of 
people in the state. 

Some other matters also caused long and heated dis¬ 
cussion in the convention. One of these was about the regu¬ 
lation of commerce. Some slaveholding states feared that 
if Congress should have this power it would pass laws which 
would prevent the South from importing any more slaves. 
It was at last agreed to give Congress the power to regulate 
commerce but to allow slaves to be imported for twenty 
years longer. 

The Constitution was a great state paper, and it was 
worked out by a remarkable group of men, fifty-five in all. 
The most distinguished was George Washington, and next 
to him stood Benjamin Franklin, the oldest man in the con¬ 
vention—eighty-one years old. 

Much younger were two men who had a great deal to 


240 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


do with giving the Constitution its spirit and final form. 
One of these was James Madison, thirty-six years old, and 
the other was Alexander Hamilton, only thirty. Although 
Hamilton was the more brilliant of the two, he was not so 
democratic, and, therefore, had not so much influence in 

the convention. Madison also was 
cooler in temper and spirit, and 
had more weight in the many long 
and able debates that took place. 
Indeed, his influence was so great 
that in later years men called him 
the “ Father of the Constitution.” 
He also kept a journal of the pro¬ 
ceedings, which proved to be of 
great value when it was given to 
the world after his death. 

Within three years from the close of the convention all 
of the thirteen states had given their consent to the new 
plan of government for the country. In other words, they 
had ratified the Constitution. 



George Washington. 


THE PEOPLE TURN TO WASHINGTON FOR THEIR FIRST 

PRESIDENT 

When the states united under the Constitution to form 
a nation, they needed a President, and again all eyes turned 
to George Washington. 

At the close of the Revolution, as already noted, he had 




THE NEW REPUBLIC IS LAUNCHED 


241 


returned to Mount Vernon, his beautiful home overlooking; 
the Potomac, and had again taken up the many-sided 
duties of plantation life. His busy day began when he 



Washington’s Home, Mount Vernon. 


rose at four in the morning and ended when he went to 
bed at nine in the evening. Yet his life was not so quiet 
as we might think, for he had many visitors. After two 
years he wrote in his diary: “Dined with only Mrs. Wash¬ 
ington, which I believe is the first instance of it since my 
retirement from public life.” 

But he was willing, at the call of the people, to give up 
this life of contentment and pleasure in order to serve his 
country. He was elected President without opposition, 






242 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


and on April 16, 1789, began the seven days' journey to 
New York, then the capital city of the United States. 

A GRATEFUL PEOPLE WELCOME WASHINGTON ALL ALONG 
THE WAY TO NEW YORK, WHERE HE TAKES 
THE OATH OF OFFICE 

Washington preferred to travel quietly, but the people, 
wishing to show their love and their trust, thronged to 
welcome him at every stage of the journey. When he 
passed through Philadelphia, under an escort of city troops, 
he rode a prancing white horse, and a crown of laurel 
rested upon his head. 

But the most beautiful tribute of all was at Trenton. 
Over the bridge spanning a little creek which he had 
crossed more than once, thirteen years before, when he 
was battling for his country's freedom, was a floral arch. 
Under it stood a party of matrons and young girls strew¬ 
ing flowers in his path and singing a song of welcome. 

When he arrived opposite New York on the west side 
of the North River,.he was met by a committee of both 
houses of Congress, who escorted him to a handsomely 
equipped barge, manned by thirteen pilots, dressed in white 
uniforms. Landing on the New York side, he rode through 
the streets amid throngs of shouting people, while salutes 
thundered from war-ships and from cannon on the Bat¬ 
tery, and bells rang joyfully from church steeples, all sound¬ 
ing a welcome. 


THE NEW REPUBLIC IS LAUNCHED 


243 


The inauguration took place on April 30. A little after 
noon Washington went from his house under a large military 
escort to Federal Hall, then the Senate Chamber. On the 



Washington Taking the Oath of Office as First President, at Federal Hall, 

New York City. 


balcony which overlooked a throng of people in the streets, 
below he took his place. 

As he stood facing the chancellor of New York State,, 
who was to give the oath, a deep hush fell on the multitude. 
“Do you solemnly swear/’ asked Chancellor Livingston, 
“that you will faithfully execute the office of President of 
the United States, and will, to the best of your ability, 
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the 
United States?’’ 

“I do solemnly swear,” said Washington, “that I will 























































































































































































244 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


faithfully execute the office of President of the United 
States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, pro¬ 
tect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” 
Then he bent and kissed the Bible held before him, with the 
whispered prayer: “So help me God!” 

“Long live George Washington, President of the United 
States!” exclaimed Livingston, and the excited throng took 
up the cry, shouting with wild enthusiasm. Thus was in¬ 
augurated our first President. Returning to the Senate 
Chamber, Washington there delivered a short address. 

WASHINGTON SELECTS AN ABLE CABINET TO HELP HIM IN 

HIS WORK AS PRESIDENT 

One of his first public acts was to choose men for a 
cabinet to help him in his new duties as President. Thomas 
Jefferson was made secretary of state; Alexander Hamilton, 
secretary of the treasury; Henry Knox, secretary of war; 
and Edmund Randolph, attorney-general. John Jay was 
appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court. 

The new government had to settle more than one im¬ 
portant question. One of these related to the method of 
paying the state debts which had resulted from the Revolu¬ 
tionary War. The Northern states were in favor of having 
the national government take care of these debts. Wash¬ 
ington himself wished to unite in this way the interests of 
all the states as well as to have them feel that they had a 
share in the new government. The Southern states were 


THE NEW REPUBLIC IS LAUNCHED 


245 


bitterly opposed to the plan, but they, in their turn, were 
eager to have the national capital located on the Potomac 
River. 

Alexander Hamilton, by a clever arrangement, per¬ 
suaded the opposing interests to adopt a compromise, or an 
agreement by which each side got a part of what it wished. 
The Northern states were to vote for a Southern capital 
if the Southern states would vote that the national govern¬ 
ment should look after the state debts. 

This plan was carried out; and thus it was decided that 
the capital of the United States should be located in the 
District of Columbia, on the Potomac River, and should be 
called Washington, after George Washington. In 17S9 the 
seat of government was in New York; from 1790 to 1800 
it was in Philadelphia; and in 1800 it was transferred to 
Washington, where it has ever since remained. 

Washington’s life as president is one of dignity and 

ELEGANCE 

It was Washington’s custom to pay no calls and accept 
no invitations, but between three and four o’clock on every 
Tuesday afternoon he held a public reception. On such 
occasions he appeared in court dress, with powdered hair, 
a long sword in a scabbard of white polished leather at 
his side, and a cocked hat under his arm. Standing be¬ 
fore the fireplace, with his right hand behind him, he bowed 
formally as each guest was presented to him. 


246 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


The visitors formed a circle about the room. At a 
quarter past three the door was closed, and Washington 
went around the circle, speaking to each person. Then he 
returned to his first position by the fireplace, where each 
visitor approached him, bowed, and retired. 

HOW THE INVENTION OF THE COTTON-GIN BY ELI WHITNEY 
AFFECTS SLAVERY AND THE GROWING OF COTTON 

One of the most noteworthy events which occurred dur¬ 
ing Washington’s administration was the invention of the 
cotton-gin by Eli Whitney. He was born in Massachusetts. 
While yet a boy he was employed in making nails by hand, 
for there was no machine for making them in those days. 
Later, when he entered Yale College, his skilful use of tools 
helped him to pay his college expenses. 

After being graduated from Yale he went South, where 
he became a tutor in the family of General Greene’s widow, 
then living on the Savannah River. 

One day, while Mrs. Greene was entertaining some 
planters, they began to talk about the raising of cotton. 
One of her guests said that it did not pay well because so 
much time was needed to separate the seeds from the fibre. 
He added that if a way could be found to do this more 
quickly the profits would be far greater. 

“Gentlemen,” said Mrs. Greene, “tell this to my young 
friend, Mr. Whitney. Verily, I believe he can make any¬ 
thing.” As a result of this conversation, in two or three 


THE NEW REPUBLIC IS LAUNCHED 


247 


months Eli Whitney had invented the cotton-gin (1793), al¬ 
though it was necessary for him to make all his own tools. 

The cotton-gin brought about great changes. Before 
its invention it took a slave 
a whole day to separate the 
seed from five or six pounds 
of cotton fibre. But by the 
use of the cotton-gin he 
could separate the seed from 
a thousand pounds in a 
single day. 

This, of course, meant that 
cotton could be sold for verv 
much less than before, and 
hence there arose a much 
greater demand for it. It meant, also, that the labor of 
slaves was of more value than before, and hence there was a 
greater demand for slaves. 

SLAVERY NOW BECOMES AN IMPORTANT FEATURE OF 

SOUTHERN LIFE 

Let us pause for a glimpse of a Southern plantation 
where slaves are at work. If we are to see such life under 
the pleasantest conditions, we will go to Virginia in the 
days before the Civil War. There the slaves led a freer 
and easier life than they did farther South among the rice- 
fields of South Carolina or the cotton-fields of Georgia. 



Whitney’s Cotton-Gin. 


248 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


We notice first the family mansion, a two-story house, 
often situated on a hilltop amid a grove of oaks. It is per¬ 
haps built of wood and painted white, with a porch in front 
covered with vines, and a wide hallway inside. It has a 



A Planter’s Home. 


very comfortable look. Not far away is a group of small 
log cabins known as “the quarters,” where the slaves live. 

On the large plantations of the far South there were 
sometimes several slave settlements on one plantation, 
each being a little village, with the cabins set in rows on 
each side of a wide street. Each cabin housed two families, 
and belonging to each family was a small garden. 

The log cabins contained large fireplaces, and it was not 
unusual for the master’s children to gather about them 
when the weather was cold enough for fires, to hear the 
negroes tell quaint tales and sing weird songs. The old 
colored “mammies” were very fond of “Massa’s chillun,” 
and liked to pet them and tell them stories. 



















THE NEW REPUBLIC IS LAUNCHED 


249 


Sometimes the cooking for the master’s family was done 
in the kitchen of the u big house/’ but more often in a cabin 
outside, from which a negro waitress carried the food to the 
dining-room. The slaves had regular allowances of food, 
most of them preferring to cook in their own cabins. Their 
common food was corn bread and ham or bacon. 



Some of the slaves were employed as servants in the 
master’s house, but the greater part of them worked in the 
fields. They went out to work very early in the morning. 
It often happened that their breakfast and dinner were 
carried to them in the fields, and during their short rest 
they would often sing together. 

The life of the slaves was sometimes hard and bitter, 












250 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


especially when they were in charge of overseers on large 
plantations. But it was not always so; for when they had 
good masters, there were many things to cheer and brighten 
their lives. We know that household slaves often lived 
in the most friendly relations with their owners. 

After serving with marked success for two terms, Wash¬ 
ington again returned (1797) to private life at Mount 
Vernon. Here, on December 14, 1799, he died at the age 
of sixty-seven, loved and honored by the American people. 
By his noble life and unselfish devotion, our first Presi¬ 
dent truly became the “ Father of his Country/ ’ We can¬ 
not do better than follow the worthy example of his faith¬ 
ful and loyal service. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. In what respects was the country weak after the Revolution? 

2. What are the three departments in our government? 

3. Why should the people of the new republic desire Washington for their 

first president ? 

4. How did the people express their feeling for Washington when he 

was on his way to New York to be inaugurated as President?’ 

5. Describe one of his public receptions. 

6. Who were the men Washington chose to help him in his new duties 

as President? 

7. Why was the present location of the capital of the United States 

chosen ? 

8. What effects did the invention of the cotton-gin have upon slavery? 

9. In imagination visit some old plantations and tell what you can about 

slave life there. 

10 . Why has Washington been called the “Father of his Country”? 


CHAPTER XX 


THE SIZE OF THE NEW REPUBLIC IS GREATLY 
INCREASED THROUGH THE FORESIGHT 

OF JEFFERSON 

Already we have seen how through the achievements 
of early pioneers and settlers, such as Daniel Boone, in 
Kentucky, John Sevier and James Robertson, in Tennessee, 
and George Rogers Clark, in the 
region of the Great Lakes, the 
country lying between the Alle¬ 
ghany Mountains and the Missis¬ 
sippi River had come to be a 

part of the United States. 

Now we are to learn how in 

a very different and much easier 
way the vast area of land be¬ 
yond the Mississippi, stretching 
westward to the Rocky Moun¬ 
tains and northward to Canada, became a part of the 
United States. All this territory we obtained not by ex¬ 
ploration or settlement, but by purchase; and the man 
who had most to do with our getting it was Thomas 
Jefferson. 



Thomas Jefferson. 


251 



252 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


THE STORY OF THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE IS MOST INTER¬ 
ESTING, BUT HARDLY MORE SO THAN THE 
STORY OF JEFFERSON HIMSELF 

Thomas Jefferson was born in 1743 near Charlottesville, 
Virginia, on a plantation of nearly 2,000 acres. As a boy 
he lived an out-of-door life, hunting, fishing, swimming, 
paddling his boat in the river near his home, and sometimes 
riding his father’s horses. He was a skilful and daring rider, 
and remained to the end of his long life fond of a fine horse. 

Thomas was a most promising lad. At five he entered 
school, and even at that early age began his lifelong habit 
of careful reading and study. While still a boy he was 
known among his playmates for his industry and his thor¬ 
ough way of working. 

At seventeen he entered William and Mary College, at 
Williamsburg, Virginia. He worked hard, sometimes fifteen 
hours a day, yet he was no mere bookworm. Full of life 
and fun, he made many friends, among them Patrick Henry, 
who with his jokes and stories kept every one about him 
in good humor. In time the friendship between these two 
became so intimate that when Patrick Henry came to 
Williamsburg as a member of the House of Burgesses, he 
shared Jefferson’s rooms. Both were fond of music, and 
spent many a pleasant hour playing their violins together. 

We have a description of Jefferson as he appeared at this 
time. He was over six feet tall, but slender in body. His 


THE FORESIGHT OF JEFFERSON 


253 


freckled face was topped by a mass of sandy hair, and 
his keen gray eyes were most friendly. He stood erect, 
straight as an arrow, a fine picture of health and strong 
young manhood. 

Thus he must have appeared as he stood in the doorway 



“ Monticello,” the Home of Jefferson. 


of the court-house, earnestly listening when Patrick Henry 
delivered his famous speech against the Stamp Act. The 
fiery words of his friend deeply impressed Jefferson’s quick, 
warm nature. 

Both young men were earnest patriots, but they served 
their country in different ways. Patrick Henry was the 
silver-tongued orator; while Jefferson, who was a poor 













254 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


speaker, wrote with such grace and strength that he has 
rightly been called “The Pen of the Revolution.” 

Before he was a statesman he came into notice in other 
ways. He proposed our system of decimal currency, which 
replaced the clumsy one of pounds, shillings, and pence used 
in colonial days; and he invented an improved plough, 
which, by sinking deeper into the soil, vastly increased its 
productive power. It came into general use not only in 
our country but in the whole world. Still more important 
was his introduction into the United States of Italian rice 
seed, from which, as a beginning, some of the finest rice 
in the world is now produced in our own Southern states. 

Jefferson’s greatest work is that of a statesman 

Valuable as these services were to his country, Jeffer¬ 
son’s great work was as a statesman. He first came into 
prominence in the Second Continental Congress, when, you 
recall, the brave men representing the several colonies de¬ 
cided that the time had come for the American people to 
declare themselves free and independent of England. Here 
his ability as a writer came to the front; for of the com¬ 
mittee of five appointed to draw up the Declaration of In¬ 
dependence he was a member, and it fell to him to write 
the first draft of that great state paper. 

Congress spent a few days in going over the draft, mak¬ 
ing some slight changes, but in the main it stands as Jeffer¬ 
son wrote it. 


THE FORESIGHT OF JEFFERSON 


255 


After filling many of the high offices in the country, in 
1801 Jefferson became the third President of the United 
States. In this lofty position history gives us another strik¬ 
ing picture of the man. It shows that he was simple in his 
tastes, and that he liked best those plain ways of living 
which are most familiar to the common people. 

On the day of his inauguration he went on foot to the 
Capitol, dressed in his every-day clothes and attended only 
by a few friends. It became his custom later, when going 
up to the Capitol on official business, to go on horseback, 
tying his horse with his own hands to a near-by fence. He 
declined to hold weekly receptions, as had been the custom 
when Washington and Adams were Presidents, but instead 
he opened his house to all on the Fourth of July and on 
New Year’s Day. In these ways he was living up to his 
belief that the President should be simple in dress and 
manner. 

HOW THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA COMES TO BE MADE 

The act of Jefferson which stands out above all others 
as the greatest and wisest of his administration was the 
“Louisiana Purchase.” When he became President, many 
pioneers were living along the Ohio and the streams flowing 
into it from the north and the south. These fertile lands 
yielded such abundant harvests that the prosperous settle¬ 
ments needed a market for their produce. The custom of 
loading pack-horses and driving cattle before them on the 


256 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

long trail over the mountains to the East was no longer 
convenient. 

Besides ; water transportation cost much less. Such 
bulky products as corn meal ; flour, pork ; and lumber had 
to go on rafts or flatboats down the Ohio and Mississippi 
Rivers to New Orleans. Here the cargo and the boat were 

sold together; or 
the cargo sold and 
loaded on ocean 
vessels, which in 
time reached the 
Eastern market 
by a cheaper 

A Flatboat on the Ohio River. though longer 

route than that 

by land. Thus the Mississippi River, being the only out¬ 
let for this heavy produce, was very necessary to the pros¬ 
perity of the West. 

But Spain at this time owned New Orleans and all 
the land about the mouth of the Mississippi; and as the 
river became more and more used for traffic, Spanish 
officers at New Orleans began to make trouble. They 
even threatened to prevent the sending of produce to that 
port. 

This threat angered the Western farmers, who proposed 
wild plans to force an outlet for their trade. But before 
anything was done, news came that Napoleon, who was 

















THE FORESIGHT OF JEFFERSON 


257 


then at the head of affairs in France, had compelled Spain to 
give up Louisiana to France. 

Then the Westerners grew alarmed. It was bad enough 
to have a weak country like Spain in control of Louisiana. 
But it might be far worse to have France own it, for France 
at that time was the greatest military power in the world. All 
this was very plain to Jefferson, and he knew that Napoleon 
was planning to establish garrisons and colonies in Louisiana. 

In view of possible dangers, he sent James Monroe to 
France to aid our minister there in securing New Orleans 
and a definite stretch of territory in Louisiana lying on the 
east side of the Mississippi River. If he could get that 
territory, the Americans would then own the entire east 
bank of the river, and could control their own trade. 

When Monroe reached France, he found that Napoleon 
not only was willing to sell what Jefferson wanted, but 
wished him to buy much more. For as Napoleon was about 
to engage in war with England, he had great need of money. 
Besides, he was afraid that the English might even invade 
and capture Louisiana, and, in that case, he would get 
nothing for it. He was satisfied, therefore, to sell the whole 
of the Louisiana territory for $15,000,000, and Jefferson 
accepted the offer. 

This purchase was a most important event in American 
history, for Louisiana at that time was a very large stretch 
of country. It included all the region between the Missis¬ 
sippi River and the Rocky Mountains, from Canada down 


258 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


to what is now Texas. Look at your map and notice that 
it was larger than all the rest of the territory which up to 
that time had been called the United States. 

NEW ORLEANS IN 1803 

The people of that day did not realize the importance 
of their purchase. For the most part the territory was a 

wild region, un¬ 
inhabited except 
by scattered In¬ 
dian tribes, and 
almost unex¬ 
plored. The 
place most alive 
was New Or¬ 
leans, which has 
been called a 
Franco-Spanish-American city, for it has belonged to all 
three nations in turn, and been under French control twice. 
You remember that the French settled it. Just suppose 
ourselves pioneers of 1803, who have brought a cargo down 
the river. 

We find New Orleans to be one of the chief seaports of 
America. Shipping of all sorts—-barges and flatboats, mer¬ 
chant vessels and war-ships—crowd the river and harbor. 

There are buildings still standing which are unchanged 
parts of the earlier French town—for instance, the govern- 



House in New Orleans Where Louis Philippe Stopped 

in 1798. 





























































THE FORESIGHT OF JEFFERSON 


259 


ment house, the barracks, the hospital, and the Convent of 
the Ursulines. We notice that the walls and fortifications, 
built partly by the French and partly by the Spaniards, are 
but a mere ring of grass-grown ruins about the city. 

The city is very picturesque with its tropical vegetation, 
always green, and its quaint houses, many of them raised 
several feet 
above the 
ground on pil¬ 
lars. The more 
pretentious 
mansions are 
surrounded by 
broad verandas 
and fine gar¬ 
dens, and scat¬ 
tered here and 

A Public Building in New Orleans Built in 1794. 

there among 

the houses of the better class are those of the poor people. 

The streets are straight and fairly wide, but dirty and 
ill kept. The sidewalks are of wood, and at night we need 
to take our steps carefully, for there are only a few dim 
lights. Beyond the walls of the city we see suburbs already 
springing up. 

Besides New Orleans, a human oasis in the waste of 
forest, there were in 1803 a few French villages near the 
mouth of the Missouri River. Traders from the British 











260 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


camps in the north had found their way as far south as 
these villages, but the great prairies had not been explored, 
and the Rocky Mountains were yet unknown. 


lewis and clark’s expedition to the northwest 

BRINGS KNOWLEDGE OF THE VAST EXTENT 
OF THE NEW TERRITORY 

Before the purchase of Louisiana, Jefferson had planned 
an expedition to explore the region, and Congress had voted 
money for the plan. Two officers of the United States army, 
Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark, 
brother of George Rogers Clark, were put in command of 
the expedition. 

They were to ascend the Missouri River to its head and 
then find the nearest waterway to the Pacific coast. They 
were directed also to draw maps of the region and to report 
on the nature of the country and the people, plants, animals, 
and other matters of interest in the new lands. 

In May, 1804, the little company of forty-five men 
started from St. Louis, and late in October they came to 
a village of the Mandan Indians at the great bend of the 
Missouri River, in what is now known as North Dakota. 
Deciding to winter here, they built huts and a stockade, 
calling the camp Fort Mandan. 

When spring came the party, now numbering thirty-two, 
again took up their journey. All before them was new 


THE FORESIGHT OF JEFFERSON 


261 



country. They met few Indians, and found themselves in 
one of the finest hunting-grounds in the world. 

Big game, such 


as buffalo, elk, an¬ 
telope, whit etail and 
blacktail deer, and 
big-horned sheep, 
was abundant. It 
happened more than 
once that the party 
was detained for an 
hour or more while 
a great herd of buf¬ 
falo ploughed their 
way down the bank 
of a river. 

When the ex¬ 
plorers arrived at 
the headwaters of 
the Missouri, the 
second autumn was 
almost upon them, 
and their hardest 
task was yet to be 

accomplished. Before them rose the mountains, and these, 
they knew, must be crossed before they could hope to find 
any waterway to the coast. 






The Lewis and Clark Expedition Working Its 
Way Westward. 





262 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


But they were fortunate in having with them a beauti¬ 
ful young Indian woman, who cheerfully rendered valuable 
service. In the language of her tribe—the Shoshones—she 
was called Sacajawea, a name which in our language means 
Bird Woman, and she was the wife of a French interpreter 
who had joined the exploring party at Fort Mandan. Al¬ 
though she carried on her back a little pappoose, she cheer¬ 
fully joined the men at the tow-line and the oars as they 
slowly moved forward against the current of the muddy 
Missouri. 

When the explorers left their boats, the Bird Woman 
faithfully guided them to the region where the Shoshones 
lived, and here they met her brother, who was one of the 
chiefs. The Indians proved friendly and supplied the white 
men with horses and guides to continue their journey. 

Presently the way became most difficult. For nearly a 
month they struggled on through dense forests, over steep 
mountains, and across raging torrents, whose icy water 
chilled both man and beast. Sometimes storms of sleet and 
snow beat pitilessly down upon them, and again they were 
almost overcome by oppressive heat. 

Game was so scarce that the men often went hungiy, 
and were driven to kill some of their horses for food. 

But brighter days were bound to come, and at last they 
reached a river which flowed toward the west. They called 
it Lewis, and it proved to be a branch of the Columbia, 
which led to the sea. With fresh courage they built five 




THE FORESIGHT OF JEFFERSON 


263 


canoes, in which the ragged, travel-worn men made their 
way down-stream. The Indians whom they met were for 
the most part friendly, welcoming them and providing them 
with food, though a few tribes were troublesome. 

Before the cold of the second winter set in, they had 
reached the forests on the Pacific coast, where they stayed 
until spring, enduring much hunger and cold, but learning 

A 

many things about the habits of the Indians. The next 
March, as soon as travel was safe, they gladly turned 
homeward. 

In September, 1806, about two years and four months 
after starting out, they were back in St. Louis, with their 
precious maps and notes. They had successfully carried 
out a magnificent undertaking, and you may be sure they 
received a joyful welcome. 

ANDREW JACKSON, A PICTURESQUE HERO, HELPS TO MAKE 
FLORIDA A PART OF THE UNITED STATES 

The next addition made to our expanding nation was 
in the extreme southeast, and with it we connect the name 
of another of our Presidents, Andrew Jackson. We like to 
associate the storv of how we came to have Florida with the 
career of the picturesque hero who brought about its 
purchase. 

Andrew Jackson was born in Union County, North 
Carolina, in 1767, of poor Scotch-Irish parents who, about 
two years before, had come from Ireland. In a little clear- 


264 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


ing in the woods they had built a rude log hut and settled 
down to hard work. 

But Andrew’s father soon died, and his mother went 
with her children to live in her brother’s home, where she 

spun flax to earn money. She was 
very fond of Andrew and hoped 
some day to make a minister of him. 

With this in view, she sent him to 
school, where he learned reading, 
writing, and a little ciphering. But 
little Andrew loved nature better 
than books, and did not make great 
progress with lessons. However, he 
was far from idle, and he did many 
hard and brave tasks worth being put into books for 
other boys to read. 

“ Mischievous Andy," as he was called, was a barefooted, 
freckle-laced, slender lad, with bright blue eyes and red¬ 
dish hair, and was full of life and fun. Although not ro¬ 
bust, he was wiry and energetic, and excelled in running, 
jumping, and all rough-and-tumble sports. If, in a wres¬ 
tling match, a stronger boy threw him to the ground, he was 
so agile that he always managed to regain his feet. 

When the Revolution broke out, there was severe fight¬ 
ing between the Americans and the British near Andrew’s 
home, and when only thirteen he was made a prisoner of 



Andrew Jackson. 


war. 


THE FORESIGHT OF JEFFERSON 


265 


One day, soon after his capture, a British officer gave 
him a pair of muddy boots to clean. The fiery youth 
flashed back: “Sir, I am not your slave. I am your pris¬ 
oner, and as such I refuse to do the work of a slave.” 
Angered by this reply, the brutal officer struck the boy a 
cruel blow with his sword, inflicting two severe wounds. 

Andrew was kept in a prison-pen about the Camden 
jail. As he was without shelter and almost without food, 
the wounds refused to heal, and in his weak and half- 
starved condition he fell a victim to smallpox. His mother, 
hearing of her boy’s wretched plight, secured his release 
and took him home. He was ill for months, and before he 
entirely recovered, his mother died, leaving him quite 
alone in the world. 

JACKSON BECOMES A LAWYER AND PROSPEROUS LAND- 

OWNER IN TENNESSEE 

In time the early hardships passed, and some years later 
we see Andrew, a young man of twenty-one, now become 
a lawyer. He is over six feet tall, slender, straight, and 
graceful, with a long, slim face, and thick hair falling over 

his forehead and shading his piercing blue eyes. He has 
crossed the mountains with an emigrant party into the 

backwoods region of Tennessee. 

The party arrived at Nashville, where their life was 
very much like that of Daniel Boone, of Kentucky. 

Young Jackson passed through many dangers without 


266 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

harm, and by his industry and business ability became a 
successful lawyer, and in time a wealthy landowner. 

After his marriage he built, on a plantation of 1,100 



“The Hermitage,” the Home of Andrew Jackson. 


acres, about ten miles from Nashville, a house which he 
called “The Hermitage.'’ Here he and his wife kept open 
house for visitors, treating rich and poor with like hos¬ 
pitality. His warm heart and generous nature w T ere es¬ 
pecially showm in his own household, where he was kind to 
all, including his slaves. 










THE FORESIGHT OF JEFFERSON 


267 


nature. But we must not think of him as a faultless man, 
for he was often rough in manner and speech, and his 
violent temper got him into serious troubles. Yet, with all 
his faults, he was brave and patriotic, and did splendid 
service as a fighter in 
Indian wars. 

In 1817 General 
Jackson, as he was 
now called, was sent 
with a body of troops 
down to southern 
Georgia, to protect 
the people there from 
the Seminole Indians, 
who lived in Florida. 

Its vast swamps and 
dense forests made a 
place of refuge from 
which outlaws, runa¬ 
way negroes, and In¬ 
dians all made a practice of sallying forth in bands across 
the border into southern Georgia. There they would drive 
off cattle, burn houses, and murder men, women, and chil¬ 
dren without mercy. 

When Jackson pursued these thieves and murderers, 
they retreated to their hiding-places beyond the boundaries 
of Florida. But it was more than Jackson could endure to 












268 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


see his enemy escape him so easily. And, although he was 
exceeding his orders, he followed them across the border, 
burned some of their villages, and hanged some of the In¬ 
dian chiefs. He did not stop until he had all of Florida 
under his control. 

This was a high-handed proceeding, for that territory 
belonged to Spain. Serious trouble was avoided only by 
our buying Florida (1819). This purchase added territory 
of 59,268 square miles to the United States. It was about 
6,000 square miles less than the whole area of New England. 

By studying your map you can easily see how much the 
area of the United States was extended by the purchase of 
Louisiana and of Florida. The adding of these two large 
territories made America one of the great nations of the 
world in landed estate. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell all you can about Jefferson’s boyhood. What kind of student 

was he in college? 

2. How did he help his countrymen before taking up his public life? 

3. Why did the Westerners wish the Mississippi to be open to their 

trade ? 

4. Why was Napoleon willing to sell us the whole of Louisiana? Use 

your map in making clear to yourself just what the Louisiana 
Purchase included. 

5. Why did Jefferson send Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition? 

What were the results of this expedition? 

6. Imagine yourself with the explorers, and tell all you can about your 

experience on the long journey. 

7. What kind of boy was Andrew Jackson? What kind of man? 

8. What part did he take in the events leading up to the purchase of 

Florida ? 


CHAPTER XXI 


INVENTORS AND INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS BRING 
GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 

After the purchase of Louisiana and the explorations 
of Lewis and Clark, the number of settlers who had been 
moving westward since the days of Boone, Robertson, and 
Sevier continued to increase. 

When these pioneers went by land, they had to load 
their goods on pack-horses and follow the Indian trail. 
Later the trail was widened into a roadway, and wagons 
could be used. But travel by land was slow and hard 
under any conditions. 

Going by water, while cheaper, was inconvenient, for 
the travellers must use the flatboat, which was clumsy and 
slow, and, worst of all, of little use except when going down¬ 
stream. 

The great need, both for travel and for trade, was a 
boat which would not be dependent upon wind or current, 
but could be propelled by steam. Many men had tried to 
work out such an invention. Among them was John Fitch, 
of Comiecticut, who completed his first model of a steam¬ 
boat in 1785. But he was not able to secure enough aid 
from men of capital and influence to make his boats per¬ 
manently successful. Let us see how the first successful 

steamboat was put into operation by a young American. 

269 


270 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


EVEN AS A BOY, ROBERT FULTON SHOWS AN INVENTIVE GIFT 

The first man to construct a steamboat which continued 
to give successful service was Robert Fulton. He was 
born of poor parents in Little Britain, Pennsylvania, in 

1765, the year of the famous Stamp 
Act. When the boy was only three 
years old his father died, and 
Robert was brought up by his 
mother. She taught him at home 
until he was eight, and then sent 
him to school, where he showed an 
unusual liking for drawing. 

Outside of school hours his spe¬ 
cial delight was to visit the shops of 
mechanics, who humored the boy 
and let him work out his clever ideas with his own hands. 

A story is told of how Robert came into school late one 
morning and gave as his excuse that he had been at a 
shop beating a piece of lead into a pencil. At the same 
time he took the pencil from his pocket, and showing it to 
his teacher, said: “It is the best one I have ever used.” 
Upon carefully looking at it the schoolmaster was so well 
pleased that he praised Robert’s efforts, and in a short 
time nearly all the pupils were using that kind of pencil. 

Another example of Robert’s inventive gift belongs to 
his boyhood days. He and one of his playmates from time 



GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 


271 


to time went fishing in a flatboat in which they pushed 
themselves along with poles. It was hard work, and slow, 
and presently Robert thought out an easier way. He made 
two crude paddle-wheels, attached one to each side of the 
boat, and connected them with a sort of double crank. 


Fulton’s First Experiment with Paddle-Wheels. 



By turning this, the boys made the wheels revolve, and 
these moved the boat through the water easily. 

fulton’s love for invention leads him to give up 

PAINTING TO EXPERIMENT ON DIVING-BOATS 

AND STEAMBOATS 

While still young, Robert began to paint pictures also. 
At the age of twenty-one his interest in art led him to go 
to London, where he studied for several years under Ben¬ 
jamin West. This famous American master took young 
Fulton into his household and was very friendly to him. 



























272 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


After leaving West’s studio, Fulton still remained in 
England, and although continuing to paint he gave much 
thought to the development of canal systems. His love 
for invention was getting the better of his love for art, and 
was leading him on to the work which made him famous. 
He was about thirty when he finally gave up painting to 
give all his time to inventing. 

He went from England to Paris, where he lived in the 
family of Joel Barlow, an American poet and public man. 
Here he made successful experiments with a diving-boat, 
which he had designed to carry cases of gunpowder under 
water. This was a step in the development of our modern 
torpedo-boat, and, although this invention alone would have 
given Fulton a place in history, it was not so famous as 
the steamboat, with which his name is more often con¬ 
nected. 

Fulton had long been interested in steam navigation, 
and while in Paris he constructed a steamboat. He was 
greatly aided by Robert R. Livingston, American minister 
at the French court, who had himself done some experi¬ 
menting in that line, and was glad to supply Fulton with 
money for his boat. 

It was finished by the spring of 1803. But just as they 
were getting it ready for a trial trip on the Seine, it broke 
in two parts and sank to the bottom of the river. The 
frame was too weak to support the weight of the heavy 
machinery. 


GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 


273 


FULTON BUILDS A SUCCESSFUL STEAMBOAT 

Soon after Fulton’s return to America, in 1806, he built 
another steamboat, which he called the Clermont. On the 
day set for the trial, in August, 1807, an expectant throng 
of curious observers gathered on the banks of the Hudson, 
at New York. Everybody was looking for failure, for 
though Fitch’s boats had made trips on the Delaware about 
twenty years earlier, the fact did not seem to be generally 
known. People had all along spoken of Fulton as a half¬ 
crazy dreamer, and had called his boat “Fulton’s Folly.” 
“Of course the thing will not move,” said one scoffer. 
“That any man with common sense well knows,” another 
replied. And yet they all stood watching. 

Fulton gave the signal, and the boat started. A slight 
tremor and it was still. “There ! What did I say?” cried 
one. “I told you so!” exclaimed another. “I knew the 
boat would not go,” said yet another. But they spoke too 
soon, for after a little delay the wheels of the Clermont be¬ 
gan to revolve, slowly and hesitatingly at first, soon with 
more speed, and then the boat steamed proudly up the 
river. 

As she moved forward, people who had come from far 
and near stood watching on the banks of the river. When 
boatmen and sailors on other river-boats heard the harsh 
clanking of machinery and saw the huge sparks and dense 
black smoke rising from her funnel, they took the Cler- 


274 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


mont for a sea-monster. Some were so frightened that they 
went ashore, some jumped into the river to get away, and 
some fell on their knees in fear, believing their last day had 



The Clermont in Duplicate at the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, 1909. 


come. It is said that one old Dutchman exclaimed to his 
wife: “I have seen the devil coming up the river on a 
raft!” 

The men who were working the boat had no such fool¬ 
ish fears. They set themselves to their task and made the 
trip from New York to Albany, a distance of 150 miles, in 











GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 


275 


thirty-two hours. Success had at last crowned the work 
of the quiet, modest inventor. After this trial trip the 
Clermont was used as a regular passenger-boat between 
New York and Albany. 

The Clermont was only the beginning of steam-driven 
craft on the rivers and lakes of our country. Four years 
afterward (1811) the first steamboat west of the Alleghany 
Mountains began its route from Pittsburg down the Ohio, 
and a few years later similar craft were in use on the Great 
Lakes. 

THE NATIONAL HOAD AND THE ERIE CANAL MAKE EASIER 
TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION WESTWARD 

While steamboats made the river and lake routes easy 
for travel and traffic, journeys by land were still difficult. 
Good roads were needed, and the work of building 
them was taken up by the United States Government. 
The most important one was known as the National 
Road. 

It ran from Cumberland, on the Potomac, through Mary¬ 
land and Pennsylvania to Wheeling, on the Ohio. From 
there it was extended to Indiana and Illinois, ending at 
Vandalia, which at that time was the capital of Illinois. 
It was 700 miles long, and cost $7,000,000. 

This smooth and solid roadway was eighty feet wide; it 
was paved with stone and covered with gravel. Trans¬ 
portation became not only much easier but also much 


276 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


cheaper. The road filled a long-felt need, and a flood of 
travel and traffic immediately swept over it. 

Another kind of highway which proved to be of untold 
value to both the East and the West was the canal, or 
artificial waterway connecting two bodies of water. 



From the painting by C. Y. Turner in the De Witt Clinton High School, New York. 


The Opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. 

The first one of importance, the Erie Canal, connecting 
the Hudson River and Lake Erie, was begun in 1817. This 
new idea received the same scornful attention from the un¬ 
thinking as “ Fulton’s Folly.” By many it was called 
“ Clinton’s Ditch,” after Governor De Witt Clinton, through 
whose foresight it was built. 













GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 


277 


The canal was finished in 1825, and was not only a great 
triumph for Clinton but it brought great wealth to the 
state. 

Very soon its usefulness was made clear. Trade be¬ 
tween the East and the West began to grow rapidly. Vast 



From the painting by C. Y. Turner in the De Witt Clinton High School, J\nu York. 

The Ceremony Called “The Marriage of the Waters.’’ 


quantities of manufactured goods were moved easily from 
the East to the West, and large supplies of food were shipped 
in the opposite direction. Prices began to fall because the 
cost of carrying goods was so much less. Before the canal 
was dug, it cost ten dollars to carry a barrel of flour from 
Buffalo to Albany. For some years packets carrying pas- 











278 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


sengers as well as freight were drawn through the canal by 
horses travelling the towpath along the bank. 

The region through which the canal ran was at that 
time mostly wilderness, but when travelling was made so 



Erie Canal, on the Right, and Aqueduct over the Mohawk River, New York. 


easy and safe, the number of people moving westward grew 
larger rapidly. Land was in demand and rose in value. 
Farm products sold at higher prices. Villages sprang up, 
factories were built, and towns grew rapidly in size. The 
great cities of New York State—and this is especially true 
of New York City—owe much of their growth to the Erie 
Canal. 

THE FIRST CRUDE PASSENGER-RAILROAD IS BUILT IN 1828 

The steamboat, the national highways, and the canals 
were all great aids to men in travel and in carrying goods. 
The next great improvement in travel came about in the 








GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 


279 


use of the steam locomotive to transport people and goods 
overland. 

Our first passenger-railroad, begun in 1828, was the 
Baltimore and Ohio. The railroads of those early days 
would seem very 
strange now. The 
rails were of wood, 
covered with a thin 
strip of iron to protect 
the wood from wear— 
even as late as the 
Civil War rails of this 
kind w T ere in use in some 
places—and the first 
cross-ties were of stone 
instead of wood. The 
locomotives and cars 
were also very crude. 

In 1833 people who came from the West to attend 
President Jackson’s second inauguration travelled by the 
National Road as far as Frederick, Maryland, and from 
there by rail to Baltimore. Their train consisted of six 
cars, each accommodating sixteen persons, and it was 
drawn by horses. 

In the autumn of that year a railroad was opened be¬ 
tween New York and Philadelphia. At first horses were 
used to draw the train, but by the end of the year locomo- 



“Tom Thumb,” Peter Cooper’s Locomotive 
Working Model, First Used Near 
Baltimore in 1830. 









280 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


tives, which ran at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, were 
introduced. This was a tremendous stride in the progress 

of railroad traffic. 

To be sure, the lo¬ 
comotives were small, 
but two or more start ed 
off together, each draw¬ 
ing its own little train 
of cars. Behind the 
locomotive was a car 
which was a mere plat¬ 
form with a row of 
benches, seating per¬ 
haps forty passengers, 
inside of an open rail¬ 
ing. Then followed 
four or five cars look¬ 
ing very much like 
stage-coaches, each 
having three compart¬ 
ments, with doors on 
each side. The last car was a high, open-railed van, in 
which the baggage of the whole train was heaped up and 
covered with oilcloth. How strange a train of this kind 
would look beside one of our modern express-trains, with 
its huge engine, and its sleeping, dining, and parlor cars! 

The railroads, once begun, grew rapidly in favor. They 


1848. RAIL-ROAD ROUTE 


BETWEQf 



ini iiti-n mm n tiw ii jih u. ii». 

UtoK •who pay Orovglt lelwftn Albany and -Boflalo, * % 10. in At best ears. 

Jo- , do. d®. ,, 8. in accomodation can, 

vouch havo been-re-arrangra,- cushioned and lighted. 

Tiote who pay tXrtmfh between A1 bony A Rochester, .8. in the best cars. 

do. do. do. 6.50 in accomodation carp. 



GOING 'WEST. 


i.&’ 


tflTnJa. HTnfn 

!*«*• Albwy. 8 A.M. l;P.M, T»P. M. 
P»u ScheneeUdf. T, A. M. 3 P.M. 9 P. M. 

in;.. iidm a n u . . 


Pui Otic*. 

Pm* Syr.ciiMb 
Pui Auboriw 
Pui lUcheilw, 

Arrtv« at HufftJo. 


Ii P. M. 9 P. M. 4 A. M. 
5; P. M. 2 A. M. 8 AM. 
7 P. M. 4 A. M. 10 A. M. 
5A.M.10A.M. 4 P.M. 
7 A. M. 3 P. M. 9 P. M. 


GOING EAST. 


iHtmte 34TnK UTM*. 
liiva Bufik 4 A.M. 9 A.M. 4 P.M. 
Pass Bnchejfer, 9. A. M. 3 P. M. 10 P. M. 

Pas* Aubnrn. 3; P. M. »P.M. 4 A. M. 

Pair Syracuse 3»P- M. 11 P M. 8 A.M. 

Pass Utica, 9; P. M. 41 A. M. 10 A. K. 

Pass SehenaetaAr, 3; A M. 10 A. M. J P.M. 

Arrive at Albany, 5 AM. II AM <PM. 


BJISBAMTS ML BE CARAID 6HLY Btf Mmi MTKACT. 

UKngtri will procure tickets at the offices At Albany, Buffalo or Rochester 
through, to bo entitled to scats at the reduced rates. 

W*+ will be received at each of the above places to any other placet 
named on the route. 


From an Old Time Table (furnished by the “A B C Pathfinder 
Railway Guide") 


Railroad Poster of 1843. 

















































GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 


281 


enabled men to settle on lands far from the rivers, and they 
were a wonderful help in the rapid development of the West. 
In 1833 there were scarcely 380 miles of railroad in the 
United States; now there are more than 250,000 miles. 


MORSE INVENTS THE TELEGRAPH AND MAKES NEWS COMMON 

TO ALL SECTIONS 

The next stride of progress seemed even more wonder¬ 
ful. Having contrived an easier and a quicker way to 
move men and their belongings from one place to another, 
she now sent thought speeding around the world. The man 
whose inventive genius made it possible for men to flash 
their thoughts thousands of miles in a few seconds of time 
was Samuel Finley Breese Morse. 

He was born in 1791 in Charlestown, Massachusetts. 
His father was a learned minister, who “was always think¬ 
ing, always writing, always talking, always acting and 
his mother was a woman of noble character, who inspired 
her son with lofty purpose. 

When he was seven he went to Andover, Massachusetts, 
to school, and still later entered Phillips Academy in the 
same town. At fourteen he entered Yale College, where 
from the first he was a good and faithful student. 

As his father was poor, Finley had to help himself along, 
and was able to do it by painting, on ivory, likenesses of 
his classmates and professors, for which he received from 


282 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


one dollar to five dollars each. In this way he made con¬ 
siderable money. 

At the end of his college course he made painting his 
chosen profession and went to London, where he studied 
four years under Benjamin West. Though for some years 
he divided his time and effort between painting and inven¬ 
tion, he at last decided to devote himself wholly to inven¬ 
tion. This change in his life-work was the outcome of an 
incident which took place on a second voyage home from 
Europe, where he had been spending another period in 
study. 

HOW AN INCIDENT SETS MORSE TO THINKING OF A NEW 

WAY TO TRANSMIT THOUGHT 

On the ocean steamer the conversation at dinner one 
day was about some experiments with electricity. One 
of the men present said that so far as had been learned 
from experiment, electricity passes through any length of 
wire in a second of time. 

“Then,” said Morse, “thought can be transmitted hun¬ 
dreds of miles in a moment by means of electricity; for, if 
electricity will go ten miles without stopping, I can make it 
go around the globe.” 

When once he began to think about this great possi¬ 
bility, the thought held him in its grip, shutting out all 
others. Through busy days and sleepless nights he turned 
it over and over. And often, while engaged in other duties, 


GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 


283 


f//yyyj?yyry^yyy^yry^c. 



The First Telegraph Instrument. 


he would snatch his note-book from his pocket in order to 
outline the new instrument he had in mind and jot down 
the signs he would use in sending messages. 

It was not long before he had worked out on paper 
the whole scheme of transmitting thought over long 
distances by means of electricity. 

And now began twelve toilsome 
years of struggle to plan and work 
out machinery for his invention. 

All these years 
he had to earn e 
money for the 
support of his three motherless children. So he gave up 
to painting much time that he would otherwise have spent 
upon his invention. His progress, therefore, was slow and 
painful, but he was not the kind of man to give up. 

In a room on the fifth floor of a building in New York 
City he toiled at his experiments day and night, with little 
food, and that of the simplest kind. Indeed, so meagre was 
his fare, mainly crackers and tea, that he bought provisions 
at night in order to keep his friends from finding out how 
great his need was. 

During this time of hardship all that kept starvation 
from his door was lessons in painting to a few pupils. On a 
certain occasion Morse said to one of them, who owed him 
for a few months’ teaching: “Well, Strothers, my boy, how 
are we off for money?” 
















284 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


“Professor/’ said the young fellow ; “I am sorry to say I 
have been disappointed, but I expect the money next week. 7 ’ 

“Next week!” cried his needy teacher; “I shall be dead 
next week.” 

“Dead, sir?” was the shocked response of Strothers. 

“Yes, dead by starvation!” was the emphatic answer. 

“Would ten dollars be of any service?” asked the pupil, 
now seeing that the situation was serious. 

“Ten dollars would save my life,” was the quick reply 
of the man who had been without food for twenty-four 
hours. You may be sure that Strothers promptly handed 
him the money. 

But in spite of heavy trials and many discouragements, 
he had, by 1837, finished a machine which he exhibited in 
New York, although he did not secure a patent until 1840. 

MORSE WHEN ALMOST AT THE POINT OF DESPAIR RECEIVES 
AID TO BUILD A TELEGRAPH-LINE 

Then followed a tedious effort to induce the government 
at Washington to vote money for his great enterprise. 
Finally, after much delay, the House of Representatives 
passed a bill “appropriating $30,000 for a trial of the 
telegraph.” 

As you may know, a bill cannot become a law unless 
the Senate also passes it. But the Senate did not seem 
friendly to this one. Many believed that the whole idea 
of the telegraph was rank folly. They thought of Morse 


GREAT CHANGES IN AMERICAN LIFE 


285 


and the telegraph very much as people had thought of Ful¬ 
ton and the steamboat; and made fun of him as a crazy¬ 
brained fellow. 

Up to the evening of the last day of the session the bill 
had not been taken up by the Senate. Morse sat anxiously 



The Block System of the Modern Railroad is Controlled by the Telegraph. 


waiting in the Senate Chamber until nearly midnight; when, 
believing there was no longer any hope ; he left the room 
and went home with a heavy heart. 

Imagine his surprise, the next morning, when a young 
woman, Miss Ellsworth, congratulated him at breakfast 
upon the passage of his bill. At first he could scarcely 
believe the good news, but when he found that she was 



















286 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


telling him the truth, his joy was unbounded, and he prom¬ 
ised her that she should choose the first message. 

By the next year (1844) a telegraph-line, extending from 
Baltimore to Washington, was ready for use. On the day 
appointed for trial Morse met a party of friends in the 
chambers of the Supreme Court at the Washington end of 
the line and, sitting at the instrument which he had him- 
self placed for trial, the happy inventor sent the message 
selected by Miss Ellsworth: “What hath God wrought!” 

The telegraph was a great and brilliant achievement, 
and brought to its inventor well-earned fame. Now that 
success had come, honors were showered upon him by many 
countries. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell all you can about John Fitch’s steamboats. 

2. Give examples which indicate young Fulton’s inventive gifts. Imagine 

yourself on the banks of the Hudson River on the day set for the 
trial of the Clermont, and tell what happened. 

3. What and where was the National Road? 

4. In what ways was the Erie Canal useful to the people? 

5. Describe the first railroads and the first trains. 

6. Tell what you can about Morse’s twelve toilsome years of struggle 

while he was working out his great invention. How is the tele¬ 
graph useful to men? 

7. What do you admire about Morse? 

8. Are you making frequent use of your map? 


CHAPTER XXII 


LEADERS WHO HELP TO MAKE THE REPUBLIC 

LARGER 

SAM HOUSTON BECOMES THE HERO IN THE LIBERATION OF 

TEXAS 

In a preceding chapter you learned how we acquired 
the territories of Louisiana and Florida. You are now to 
learn how Texas and California came into our possession. 

The most prominent man connected with the events 
which brought Texas into the Union was Sam Houston. 
He was born in Virginia, of Irish descent, in 1793. When 
he was thirteen his father died, and the family moved to a 
place in Tennessee, near the home of the Cherokee Indians. 
In that new country the boy received little schooling, but 
this did not make him unhappy, since he cared far less 
for school than he did for the active, free life of his 
Indian neighbors. 

He made friends of them, and one of the chiefs adopted 
him as a son. We may be sure he enjoyed the sports, 
games, hunting, and fishing, which took up so much of the 
time of the Indian boys. 

At the age of eighteen he went to school for a term at 
Maryville Academy. In 1813 he joined the army, serving 
under Andrew Jackson in the campaign against the Creek 

Indians. In the battle of Horseshoe Bend he fought with 

287 


288 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


reckless bravery, and received a wound in the thigh. Jack- 
son then ordered him to stop fighting, but Houston refused 
to obey and was leading a desperate charge against the 
enemy when his right arm was shattered. It was a long 
time before he recovered from his wounds, but he had 
made a friend for all time in Andrew Jackson. 

Later Houston studied law and began a successful prac¬ 
tice in Tennessee. He was so well liked that he was elected 
to many positions of honor and trust, the last being that of 
governor. In 1829 he was married, but a few weeks later 
he separated from his wife without any explanation. His 
strange conduct brought upon him such a storm of dis¬ 
approval that he left suddenly and went far up the Arkan¬ 
sas River to the home of his early friends, the Cherokee 
Indians, who had been removed by the United States 
Government to the distant lands beyond the Mississippi. 
Here he remained three years. 

In 1832 he made a trip to Washington, wearing the 
garb of his adopted tribe. His stated purpose was to se¬ 
cure a contract for furnishing rations to the Cherokees. But 
another purpose was in his mind. He had set his heart 
on winning Texas for the United States. Perhaps he talked 
over the scheme with his friend President Jackson. How¬ 
ever that may be, we know that in the same year Houston 
again left his Cherokee friends and went to Texas to live. 

At that time Texas was a part of Mexico. Many peo¬ 
ple from the United States had begun to settle there, and 


LEADERS WHO MAKE THE REPUBLIC LARGER 289 


were welcomed by the Mexicans. But presently the Amer¬ 
icans came in such rapidly growing numbers that the Mexi¬ 
can Government began to oppress them, and passed a law 
requiring them to give up their private arms. This would 



Scene of Houston’s Campaign. 


leave them defenseless against the Indians as well as border 
ruffians. Another law provided that no more settlers should 
come to Texas from the United States, and that prevented 
the few thousand Americans from being strengthened in 
numbers. 

The indignant settlers then rebelled against Mexico, 
declaring Texas to be an independent republic. At the 
same time they elected Houston commander-in-chief of all 
the Texan troops. This began a bitter war. The Mexican 











290 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


dictator, Santa Anna, with an army 4,000 to 5,000 strong, 
marched into Texas to force the people to submit to the 
Mexican Government. 

DAVID CROCKETT IS ONE OF THE BRAVE DEFENDERS OF THE 

ALAMO 

The first important event of the war was the cap¬ 
ture of the Alamo, an old Texan fortress at San Antonio. 
Although the garrison numbered only 140, they were men 
of reckless daring, without fear, and they determined to 
fight to the last. 

Among these hardy fighters was David Crockett, a 
pioneer and adventurer who had led a wild, roving life. 
He was a famous hunter and marksman and, like some of 
our other frontiersmen, was never so much at home as when 
he was alone in the deep forests. 

Born in eastern Tennessee, in 1786, he received no 
schooling, but he was a man of good understanding. His 
amusing stories and his skill with the rifle made him many 
friends, whom he represented in the Tennessee legislature, 
and later in Congress. 

Like Sam Houston, he had served under Andrew Jack- 
son in the war with the Creek Indians, and when the strug¬ 
gle with Mexico broke out he was one of the many brave 
backwoodsmen who left their homes and went down to 
help the Texans. 

After a long journey from Tennessee, in which more 


LEADERS WHO MAKE THE REPUBLIC LARGER 291 



than once he came near being killed by the Indians or wild 
beasts, he at last reached the fortress of the Alamo. He 
knew he was taking great risks in joining the small garrison 
there, but that did not 
hold him back. 

The Mexican army, 
upon reaching San 
Antonio, began firing 
upon the Alamo. Their 
cannon riddled the fort, 
making wide breaches 
in the weak outer walls 
through which from 
ever} 7 side thousands 
of Mexicans thronged. 

After emptying their 
muskets, the Ameri¬ 
cans then fought with 
knives and revolvers. 

They kept up the 
fight with desperate 

bravery until only five of the soldiers were left. 

One of these was David Crockett. He had turned his 
musket about and was using it as a club in his hopeless 
struggle with the scores of men who sought his life. There 
he stood, his back against the wall, with the bodies of the 
Mexicans he had slain lying in a semicircle about him. 


The Fight at the Alamo. 








292 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


His foes dared not rush upon him, but some of them held 
him at bay with their lances, while others, having loaded 
their muskets, riddled his body with bullets. Thus fell 
brave David Crockett, a martyr to his country’s cause. 

1 SAM HOUSTON DEFEATS THE MEXICANS AND PREPARES 
TEXAS FOR ANNEXATION TO THE UNITED STATES 

A few weeks after the tragedy of the Alamo, Santa 
Anna’s army massacred a force of 500 Texans at Goliad. 
The outlook for the Texan cause was now very dark, but 
Sam Houston, who commanded something like 700 Texans, 
would not give up the fight. He retreated eastward for 
some 250 miles, and when he learned that Santa Anna was 
approaching with only about 1,600 men, he halted his 
troops. Waiting for the Mexicans to come up, he stood 
ready for attack in a well-chosen spot near the San Jacinto 
River, and defeated the force, taking Santa Anna prisoner. 

The Texans now organized a separate government, and 
in the following autumn elected Houston as the first presi¬ 
dent of the republic of Texas. Largely through his effort, 
Texas entered our Union in 1845. This action brought on 
the Mexican War, which lasted nearly two years. 

JOHN C. FREMONT IS THE PATHFINDER THROUGH THE 

MOUNTAIN WEST 

Still another man who acted as agent in the transfer of 
land from Mexico was John C. Fremont. His field was 
California. 


LEADERS WHO MAKE THE REPUBLIC LARGER 293 


His father died when he was a young child, and the fam¬ 
ily moved to Charleston, South Carolina. After graduating 
from Charleston College, Fremont was employed by the gov¬ 
ernment as assistant engineer in making surveys for a railroad 
between Charleston and Cincinnati, and also in exploring 
the mountain passes between North Carolina and Tennessee. 

He enjoyed this work so much that he was led to go 
farther west and explore that part of our country which 
was still largely unknown. He made several expeditions 
beyond the Rocky Mountains, three of which are of special 
importance to our story. 

The first expedition was made in 1842, when he was 
sent out by the War Department to explore the Rocky 
Mountains. He made his way up the Kansas River, crossed 
over to the Platte, which he ascended, and then pushed on 
to the South Pass, which is in the State of Wyoming. After 
exploring it, he climbed with four of his men to the top of 
the mountain now known as Fremont’s Peak, where he 
unfurled to the breeze the beautiful stars and stripes. The 
expedition had taken four months. 

In this and also in his second expedition Fremont re¬ 
ceived much help from Kit Carson, one of the famous 
scouts and hunters of the West. Up to 1834 he was a 
trapper, and had roamed over the Rocky Mountain coun¬ 
try until it had become very familiar to him. During the 
next eight years he was hunter for Bent’s Fort, on the 
Arkansas River, and knew well the great plains. 


294 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


He was also well acquainted with many Indian tribes. 
He knew their customs, he understood their methods of 
warfare, and they liked him. He spoke their chief languages 
as well as he did his mother tongue. He was therefore 
very useful to Fremont as a guide. 

WITH KIT CARSON AS GUIDE, FREMONT CROSSES THE 

SIERRAS TO CALIFORNIA 

After his first expedition in the Rocky Mountains, 
Fremont made up his mind to explore the region between 
them and the coast. Receiving orders from the govern¬ 
ment, he set out the second time in May, 1843, with thirty- 
nine men, Kit Carson again acting as guide. 

The party left the little town of Kansas City in May, 
and, after travelling for 1,700 miles, in September they 
reached a vast expanse of water which excited great in¬ 
terest. It was much larger than the whole State of Dela¬ 
ware, and its waters were salt. It was therefore given the 
name of Great Salt Lake. 

Passing on, Fremont reached the upper branches of 
the Columbia River and pushed down the valley as far as 
Fort Vancouver, near its mouth. Having reached the 
coast, he remained a few days and then set out on his return. 

The route which he took extended from the lower part 
of the Columbia River to the upper part of the Colorado. 
It passed through a region of which almost nothing was 
known, and which was difficult for the explorers because 


LEADERS WHO MAKE THE REPUBLIC LARGER 295 


it was crossed by high and rugged mountain chains. They 
had not gone far before heavy snow on the mountains forced 
them to go down 
into the Great Ba¬ 
sin, a deep valley 
lying east of the 
Sierra Nevada 
Mountains. Fre¬ 
mont soon found 
that he was in a 
wild desert region 
in the depths of 
winter, facing death 
from cold and star¬ 
vation. The situ¬ 
ation was desper¬ 
ate. 

He judged that 
they were about as 
far south as San 
Francisco Bay. 

But to reach it they would have to cross the mountains, 
and the Indians refused to act as guides, saying that men 
could not possibly climb the steep, rugged heights in win¬ 
ter. Yet this warning did not stop Fremont. 

It was a terrible journey. Sometimes they came to 
places where the snow was 100 feet deep or more, but 



Fremont’s Expedition Crossing the Rocky Mountains. 































296 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


they went steadily forward for nearly six weeks. Finally, 
after suffering from intense cold and from lack of food, they 
found their way down the western side of the mountains, 
men and horses alike in such a starved condition that they 
were like walking skeletons. 

At last they reached Sutter’s Fort, now the city of 
Sacramento, where Captain Sutter made them com¬ 
fortable. After remaining there for a short time, Fremont 
recrossed the mountains, 500 miles farther south, and con¬ 
tinued to Utah Lake, which is 28 miles south of Great Salt 
Lake. He had travelled entirely around the Great Basin. 

From Utah Lake he hastened across the country to 
Washington, with the account of his journey and of the dis¬ 
coveries he had made. 

ON HIS THIRD EXPEDITION FREMONT AIDS IN THE CONQUEST 
OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE UNITED STATES 

In 1845 Captain Fremont—for he had now been pro¬ 
moted to the rank of captain—started out on his third ex¬ 
pedition to explore the Great Basin, and then to proceed 
westward to the coast and north to Oregon. 

Having explored the basin, he was on his way to Oregon 
when he learned that the Mexicans were plotting to kill all 
the Americans in the valley of the Sacramento River. He 
therefore turned back, and, with the help of American set¬ 
tlers in northern California, he took possession of that re¬ 
gion, which was then Mexican territory, and marching 


LEADERS WHO MAKE THE REPUBLIC LARGER 297 


south captured Monterey. Within about two months he 
had conquered practically all of California; including what 
had been settled by Spanish missionaries. 

Fremont’s conquest was ; in effect; a part of the Mexi¬ 
can War, which began in 1846. After nearly two years 
of fighting, a treaty of peace was signed; by which Mexico 
ceded to the United States not only California but also 
much of the vast region now included in Nevada, Utah, 
Arizona, and New Mexico. 

This region, which is called the Mexican Cession, con¬ 
tained 545,783 square miles, while Texas included 576,133 
square miles. These two areas together were, like Loui¬ 
siana, much larger than the whole of the United States at 
the end of the Revolution. With the addition of Loui¬ 
siana in 1803, of Florida in 1819, of Texas in 1845, and of 
this region in 1848, the United States had enormously in¬ 
creased her territory. 

THE AMERICANS MAKE SETTLEMENTS IN OREGON 

Many years before the Mexican War, while California 
was still a part of Mexico, the United States claimed the 
land lying west of the Rocky Mountains between the north¬ 
ern boundary of California and the southern boundary of 
Alaska, or the latitude of 54° 40'. It was called the Oregon 
country. England claimed the same region as far south 
as the Columbia River, or the latitude of 46°. Since neither 
the United States nor England was willing to give up her 


298 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


claim, or even a part of it, in 1818 they agreed to occupy 
the country together. 

This, of course, did not end the dispute; it only put off 
the settlement. But the chances were in our favor because 
we were close to the region, and trappers and fur-traders 
soon entered it after it had been explored in 1806. Mission¬ 
aries followed the trappers and traders, and while working to 
make Christians of the Indians, they also farmed the land. 

Although American settlement began as early as 1832, 
no large settlement was made before 1843, the year of the 
great migration. 

The starting-place was Independence, Missouri, a vil¬ 
lage a few miles west of the present site of Kansas City. It 
was the regular outfitting place for trappers, traders, and 
emigrants. Those who took the long journey to the Far 
West united here to form a caravan for better defense 
against the Indians. 

By the middle of May, 1843, emigrants began to arrive 
from all directions, in parties of two, three, a dozen, or even 
twenty, in huge wagons covered with white canvas and 
known as prairie-schooners. Before leaving they adopted 
rules for the journey, and chose a “pilot” to guide them 
over the mountains. On May 22 the large caravan started. 
After crossing the Kansas River they were joined by others 
who brought the whole number up to 1,000, including men, 
women, and children. There were also 120 wagons and 
over 5,000 cattle. 


LEADERS WHO MAKE THE REPUBLIC LARGER 299 


The company was divided into two parts, each with 
sixty wagons. One was made up of those who owned only 
a few cattle or none, and was called “the light column”; 
the other of those having large or small herds, and known 
as “the cow-column.” 

An able “pilot” conducted the first division. Captain 



Jesse Applegate was the leader of the second division. He 
was not only active and efficient on the journey, but took 
a large part in the affairs of Oregon after it was settled. 
The pioneers looked to him for wise counsel, and their de¬ 
scendants still recall his noble deeds. 

Years after the great migration had taken place, Captain 
Applegate wrote a vivid account of a typical day on the 
journey—so vivid, indeed, that you can easily imagine 
yourself one of the pioneer travellers. 
















300 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


At four o’clock in the morning the firing of guns by the 
sentinels is the signal for all to rise and make ready for the 
day’s journey. Between six and seven the work is well ad- 
A r anced. Fires are lighted; breakfast is cooked and eaten; 
oxen, cows, and horses are driven in from where they have 
been grazing during the night; and the teams of oxen are 
attached to the wagons. 

At seven o’clock a trumpet in front sounds the signal to 
start. At once all fall into their proper places, and the 
long line “draws its lazy length” toward the distant goal. 
The wagons are loaded with women, children, and house¬ 
hold goods; some of the men, armed with guns and pistols, 
ride alongside to guard against unfriendly Indians; others 
drive the cattle that follow in the rear of the caravan; 
another small group, mounted and armed, stand apart, for 
they are about to start on a buffalo-hunt. Each man 
serves in turn as hunter and scout, and each in turn serves 
as sentinel during the night. 

After stopping an hour at noon for rest and food the line 
of march is again taken up and continues till sunset. Then 
the wagons are driven into a circle, the oxen released, and 
the wagons connected with the ox-chains, making a fort¬ 
like defense for the night. The rear of each wagon closes 
on the front of the one behind it so that there is no unfilled 
space between any two of them. 

At the end of ninety-eight days the emigrants arrived 
at Fort Hall, which was a well-known way-station along the 


LEADERS WHO MAKE THE REPUBLIC LARGER 301 


Oregon trail. They had covered only two-thirds of the 
long journey, and the hardships to be faced were worse 
than those they had already endured. Thus far they had 
come over a wagon-trail; but from Fort Hall to the Wil¬ 
lamette valley, where they were to make their homes, there 
was only a pack-trail, and they could not obtain enough 
pack-horses. 

By good fortune, however, they had in their company 
Doctor Marcus Whitman, a representative of the American 
Board of Missions of the Congregational Church. He 
was in charge of the Walla Walla Mission, and, seven years 
before, had gone over a part of the pack-trail in a light 
wagon. He urged them to risk the venture, and offered 
to be their guide. They fell in with his plans, and before 
the beginning of December, or more than six months after 
starting from Independence, the company reached the 
Willamette valley in safety. 

Next year (1844) 2,000 more emigrants went out; and 
by 1845 the American settlers in the Oregon country num¬ 
bered 7,000. By right of occupation the United States 
now laid claim to the country, and in 1846 a treaty with 
England was arranged. By its terms the boundary sepa¬ 
rating the two claims was made 49°. The whole Oregon 
country included what is now the states of Oregon, Idaho, 
and Washington, or an area equal to fifty states the size 
of Connecticut. 


302 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


THE HUSH OF GOLD-MINEHS TO CALIFORNIA LEADS TO THE 
FORMATION OF A STATE ON THE PACIFIC COAST 

Two years after the treaty with England fixing our 
northern boundary, the treaty with Mexico, as you have 
already learned, gave us the whole of California. In that 
same year another event combined to make this region a 
most popular centre of settlement. This was the discov¬ 
ery of gold in California. 

Captain Sutter, a Swiss pioneer living near the site of 
the present city of Sacramento—at Sutter’s Fort, where 
Fremont stopped on his second expedition—was having a 
water-power sawmill built up the river at some distance 
from his home. One of the workmen, while walking along 
the mill-race, discovered some bright, yellow particles, the 
largest of which were about the size of grams of wheat. 
On testing them, Captain Sutter found that they were gold. 

He tried to keep the discovery a secret, but it was im¬ 
possible. The news spread rapidly to all the neighboring 
country, and men made a rush for the gold-fields. From 
the mountains to the coast, from San Francisco to Los 
Angeles, settlements were abandoned. Even vessels that 
came into the harbor of San Francisco were deserted by 
their crews, sailors and captains alike being drawn by their 
desire for gold. “To the diggings!” was the watchword. 

Within four months of the first discovery 4,000 men were 
living in the neighborhood of Sacramento. The sudden 




LEADERS WHO MAKE THE REPUBLIC LARGER 303 


coming together of so many people made it difficult to get 
supplies, and they rose in value. Pickaxes, crowbars, and 
spades cost from ten dollars to fifty dollars apiece. Bowls, 
trays, dishes, and even warming-pans were eagerly sought, 
because they could be used in washing gold. 

It was late in the year before people in the East learned 



Sutter’s Mill. 


• 

of the discovery, for news still travelled slowly. But when 
it arrived, men of every class—farmers, mechanics, lawyers, 
doctors, and even ministers—started West. The journey 
might be made in three ways. One was by sailing-vessels 
around Cape Horn. Another way was to sail by way of 
the Isthmus of Panama. The third route was overland, 
from what is now St. Joseph, Missouri, and required three 
or four months. This could not be taken until spring, 










304 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


and some who were unwilling to wait started at once by 
the water-routes. 

Men were so eager to go that when spring came several 
often joined together to buy an outfit of oxen ; mules, wagons. 



Placer-Mining in the Days of the California Gold Rush. 


and provisions. They made the journey in covered wagons 
called “prairie-schooners/’ while their goods followed in 
peddlers’ carts. It often happened that out on the plains 
they missed their way, for there was no travelled road, and a 
compass was as necessary as if they had been on the ocean. 

Journeying thus by day, and camping by night, they 
suffered many hardships while on the way. Four thousand 
died from cholera during the first year, and many more for 
lack of suitable food. In some cases they had to kill and 








LEADERS WHO MAKE THE REPUBLIC LARGER 305 


eat their mules ; and at times they lived on rattlesnakes. 
The scattered bones of men and beasts marked the trail; 
for in the frantic desire to reach the diggings the wayfarers 
would not always stop to bury their dead. 

When the gold region was reached; tents, wigwams, 
bark huts, and brush arbors served as shelter. The men 
did their own cooking, washing, and mending, and food 
soared to famine prices. A woman or a child was a rare 
sight in all that eager throng, for men in their haste had 
left their families behind. 

/ 

It was a time of great excitement. Perhaps you have a 
grandparent who can tell you something of those stirring 
days. The gold craze of ? 49 is a never-to-be-forgotten 
event in our history. Although many were disappointed 
in not finding gold, they found a great new country, beau¬ 
tiful to live in and rich in possibilities, which became the 
new State of California. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What kind of boy was Houston? What kind of man? What did ho 

do for Texas? 

2. Tell about David Crockett’s heroism at the Alamo. 

3. When reading about Fremont’s explorations look up on the map 

every one of them. What do you think of him? 

4. Who was Kit Carson, and how did he help Fremont? 

5. Imagine yourself with Captain Applegate’s division, and tell about 

your experience. 

6. Locate on your map every acquisition of territory from the end of the 

Revolution to 1848. 

7 . Imagine yourself going to California across the plains and mountains 

in 1849, and give an account of your experiences. 


CHAPTER XXIII 


HOW THREE GREAT STATESMEN STRIVE TO 
SETTLE THE PROBLEMS OF THEIR TIME 

JOHN C. CALHOUN IS THE SOUTHERN LEADER 

The territory we obtained from Mexico, while adding 
much to the expanse of our country, led to a bitter dispute 
between the North and the South over slavery. 

The trouble over slavery was no new thing. It had 
begun to be really serious many years before the Mexican 
War, and a year or two afterward there was deep and 
violent feeling over the question of whether the new terri¬ 
tory should be free or open to slavery. To understand why 
this was so, we must go back to earlier events and follow 
the careers of three great statesmen, John C. Calhoun, 
Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster, each of whom took an 
important part in the shaping of them. 

John C. Calhoun, born in South Carolina in 1782, was 
the youngest but one of a family of five children. His 
father died when he was only thirteen, and until he was 
eighteen he remained on the farm, living a simple out- 
of-door life, working in the field, hunting, riding, and 
fishing. 


306 


THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


307 

Then upon advice of his elder brother, who had ob¬ 
served John’s quickness of mind, he went to an academy. 
After studying two years and a quarter, he entered the 
junior class at Yale College, graduating in 1804, and took a 
course in the law school at Litchfield, Connecticut. Then 
he returned home to complete his studies for the bar. 

He was always steady and 
serious-minded, and during the 
early years of his public life he 
won much praise for his close 
attention to work, his stately 
speeches, and his courteous man¬ 
ners. ' Slender and erect in form, 
his dignified bearing, piercing dark 
eyes, and powerful voice were sure 
to command attention. 

John C. Calhoun. 

In 1808 he entered the South 
Carolina legislature, and began a public career which 
was to last more than forty years. During this time he 
served his country as a representative in Congress, sec¬ 
retary of war, vice-president of the United States, secretary 
of state, and United States senator. 

From the first he was prominent as a leader, especially 
in those events which concerned the slaveholding Southern 
planter. This we shall see later, after we have made the 
acquaintance of the second of the powerful trio of great 
statesmen, Henry Clay. 



308 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


HENRY CLAY BECOMES THE GREAT PEACEMAKER BETWEEN 

THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH 

Henry Clay was bom near Richmond, Virginia, in 1777, 
in a low, level region called “the Slashes.” He was one of 

seven children. His father was a 
Baptist preacher, very pleasing in 
voice and manner. He died when 
Henry was four years old, leaving 
little laid aside for his family. 

Like the other boys of “the 
Slashes,” Henry went to school in 
a small log schoolhouse without 
windows or floor. The schoolmas¬ 
ter, who had not much education 
himself, taught the boys to read, 
write, and cipher. But that was all. 

Outside of school hours Henry shared in the farm work. 
He helped with the field work and often rode the family 
pony to the mill, sitting on a bag of grain or flour and 
using a rope for a bridle. For this reason he has been called 
“the Millboy of the Slashes.” 

When fourteen years old he took a place as clerk in a 
Richmond drug-store. But he did not stay long, for about 
this time his mother married again, and his stepfather, 
realizing that Henry was a boy of unusual ability, found him 



Henry Clay. 







THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


309 


a place as copying clerk in the office of the court of chancery 
at Richmond. 

At this time he was fifteen years old, tall, thin, and 
homely. The other clerks were inclined to jeer at his 
awkwardness and his plain, home-made, ill-fitting clothes. 
But Henry’s sharp 
retorts quickly si¬ 
lenced them, and 
they soon grew to 
respect and like him. 

He was an earnest 
student, and spent 
his evenings read¬ 
ing, while the other 
young fellows idled 
about the town. 

He joined the Richmond Debating Society and soon be¬ 
came the “star” speaker. This came by hard work, for he 
formed the habit of studying daily some selected passage, 
and then going out to a quiet place and declaiming what he 
had learned. 

He attracted the notice of the chancellor, who was 
pleased by Henry’s painstaking work at the office and by 
his studious habits. He advised Henry to read law, and 
within a year after his studies began, when he was only 
twenty-one years old, he was admitted to the bar. 

He began his law practice in Lexington, Kentucky, then 



The Birthplace of Henry Clay, near Richmond. 























310 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


a small place of not more than fifty houses. Although he 
arrived with scarcely a penny ; he was so successful that 
within a year and a half he was able to marry the daughter 
of a leading family. And very soon he became the owner 
of a beautiful estate near Lexington, called “Ashland,” and 
also of several slaves. 

He was a great favorite with the people largely because 
he was so honest in his dealings and so friendly to all. It is 
said that no other man has ever had such power to influ¬ 
ence a Kentucky jury. 

Such was the beginning of his life as a statesman. 
During a period of some forty years he was prominent as a 
leader in all the great events that were making the history 
of our country. 

He filled various national offices. He was speaker of 
the House of Representatives for many years, was four 
years secretary of state, and during much more than half 
of the time between 1831 and 1852 he was in the United 
States Senate. Three times he was a candidate for Presi¬ 
dent, but each time he failed of election. 

He would not swerve by a hair’s breadth from what he 
considered his duty, even for party ends. “I would rather 
be right than be President,” he said, and men knew that he 
was sincere. 

Living in a Southern state, he would naturally have the 
interests of the South at heart. But he did not always 
take her part. While Calhoun was apt to see but one side 


THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


311 


of a question, Clay was inclined to see something of both 
sides, and to present his views in such a way as to bring 
about a settlement. Therefore he was called “the Great 
Peacemaker.” 

His most important work as a peacemaker had to do 
with the Missouri Compromise (1820), the compromise 
tariff (1833), and the Compromise of 1850, sometimes called 
the Omnibus Bill. All of these we look into a little further 
on, after we come to know something about the last, and 
perhaps the greatest, of our three statesmen, Daniel Web¬ 
ster. For all three were interested in the same great 
movements. 

DANIEL WEBSTER IS THE LEADING STATESMAN IN THE NORTH 

Daniel Webster was born among the hills of New Hamp¬ 
shire, in 1782, the son of a poor farmer, and the ninth of 
ten children. As he was a frail child, not able to work 
much on the farm, his parents permitted him to spend much 
of his time fishing, hunting, and roaming at will over the 
hills. Thus he came into close touch with nature and ab¬ 
sorbed a kind of knowledge which was very useful to him 
in later years. 

He was always learning things, sometimes in most un¬ 
usual ways, as is shown by an incident which took place 
when he was only eight years old. Having seen in a store 
near his home a small cotton handkerchief with the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States printed upon it, he gathered 


312 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


up his small earnings to the amount of twenty-five cents 
and eagerly secured the treasure. From this unusual copy 
he learned the Constitution, word for word, so that he could 
repeat it from beginning to end. 

Of course this was a most remarkable thing for an 
eight-year-old boy to do, but the boy was himself remarkable. 
He spent much of his time poring over books. They were 
few in number but of good quality, and he read them over 
and over again until they became a part of himself. It 
gave him keen pleasure to memorize fine poems and also 
noble selections from the Bible, for he learned easily and 
remembered well what he learned. In this way he stored 
his mind with the highest kind of truth. 

When he was fourteen his father sent him to Phillips 
Exeter Academy. The boys he met there were mostly 
from homes of wealth and culture. Some of them were 
rude and laughed at Daniel’s plain dress and country 
manners. Of course the poor boy, whose health was not 
robust, and who was by nature shy and independent, found 
such treatment hard to bear. But he studied well and soon 
commanded respect because of his good work. 

After leaving this school he studied for six months under 
a private tutor, and at the age of fifteen he was prepared to 
enter Dartmouth College. Although he proved himself to 
be a youth of unusual mental power, he did not take high 
rank in scholarship. But he continued to read widely and 
thoughtfully, and stored up much valuable knowledge, 


THREE GREAT STATESMEN 313 

which later he used with clearness and force in conversa¬ 
tion and debate. 

After being graduated from college Daniel taught for a 
3 r ear and earned money enough to help pay his brother’s 
college expenses. The following year he studied law, and 
in due time was admitted to the bar. As a lawyer he was 



The Home of Daniel Webster, Marshfield, Mass. 


very successful, his income sometimes amounting to $20,000 
a year. In those days that was a very large sum. 

But he could not manage his money affairs well, and no 
matter how large his income, he was always in debt. This 
unfortunate state of affairs was owing to a reckless extrava¬ 
gance, which he displayed in many ways. 

Indeed, Webster was a man of such large ideas that of 
necessity he did all things on a large scale. It was vastness 
that appealed to him. And this ruling force in his nature 
explains his eagerness to keep the Union whole and supreme 
over the states. This we shall soon clearly see. 



























314 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


ALL THREE LEADERS PLAY IMPORTANT PARTS IN THE 
DISPUTES OVER SLAVERY AND THE TARIFF 

Having taken this glimpse of our three leaders, let us 
see how the great events of their time were largely moulded 
by their influence. All of these events, as we are soon to 
learn, had a direct bearing on slavery, and that was the 
great question of the day. 

Up to the Revolution there was slavery in all the thir¬ 
teen colonies. Some of them wished to get rid of it; but 
England, the mother country, would not allow them to do 
so, because she profited by the trade in slaves. After the 
Revolution, when the states were free to do as they pleased 
about slavery, some put an end to it on their own soil, and 
in time Pennsylvania and the states to the north and east 
became free states. 

Many people then believed that slavery would by degrees 
die out, and perhaps this would have happened if the growing 
of cotton had not been made profitable by Eli Whitney s in¬ 
vention of the cotton-gin. But after that it took a much 
stronger hold upon the planters of the South than ever before. 

This became very evident when Missouri applied for 
admission into the Union. The South, of course, wished 
it to come into the Union as a slave state; the North, fear¬ 
ing the extension of slavery into the Louisiana Purchase, 
was equally set upon its coming in as a free state. 

The struggle was a long and bitter one, but finally both 


THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


315 


the North and the South agreed to give up a part of what 
they wanted; that is, they agreed upon a compromise. It 
was this: Missouri was to enter the Union as a slave state, 
but slavery was not to be allowed in any part of the Loui¬ 
siana Purchase which lay north or west of Missouri. This 
was called the Missouri Compromise (1820). 

It was brought about largely through the eloquence and 
power of Henry Clay, and it was at this time he earned the 
name of “the Great Peacemaker.” Calhoun, on the other 
hand, was one of the men who did not think the Missouri 
Compromise was a good thing for the country. He there¬ 
fore strongly opposed it. 

The next clash between the free states and the slave 
states was caused by the question of the tariff, or tax upon 
goods brought from foreign countries. Not long after the 
Missouri Compromise was agreed upon, Northern manufac¬ 
turers were urging Congress to pass a high-tariff law. 
They said that, inasmuch as factory labor in England was 
so much cheaper than in this country, English goods could 
be sold for less money here than those made in our own fac¬ 
tories, unless a law was passed requiring a tax, or duty, to 
be paid upon the goods brought over. Such a tax was 
called a protective tariff. 

Calhoun, who voiced the feeling of the Southern planters, 
said: “This high tariff is unfair, for, while it protects the 
Northern man, it makes us of the South poorer, because we 
have to pay so high for the things we do not make.” 


316 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


You understand, there were no factories in the South, for 
the people were mostly planters. With the cheap slave 
labor, a Southern man could make more money by raising 
rice, cotton, sugar, or tobacco than he could by manufactur¬ 
ing. Also, it was thought that the soil and climate of the 
South made that section better fitted for agriculture than 
for anything else. “So the South should be allowed/' said 
Calhoun, “to buy the manufactured goods—such as cheap 
clothing for her slaves, and household tools and farming 
implements—where she can buy them at the lowest prices." 

But in spite of this bitter opposition in the South, Con¬ 
gress passed the high-tariff law in 1828, and another in 
1832. The people of South Carolina were indignant. And, 
under the guidance of Calhoun, some of the leading men 
met in convention and declared: “We here and now nullify 
the tariff laws." By these words they meant that the laws 
should not be carried out in South Carolina. Then they 
added: “If the United States Government tries to enforce 
these laws on our soil, South Carolina will go out of the 
Union and form a separate nation." 

Andrew Jackson was at that time President of the 
United States. Although he himself did not favor a hi<rh 
tariff, he was firm in his purpose that whatever law Con¬ 
gress might pass should be enforced in every state in the 
Union. When the news came to him of what South Caro¬ 
lina had done, he was quietly smoking, but in a flash of 
anger he declared: “The Union! It must and shall be 




THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


317 


preserved! Send for General Scott! 77 General Scott was 
commander of the United States army, and “Old Hickory, 77 
as President Jackson was proudly called by many of his 
admirers, was ready to use the army and the navy, if neces¬ 
sary, to force any state to obey the law. 

In this bitter controversy Daniel Webster, then senator 
from Massachusetts, had taken a bold stand for the Union. 
He said: “Congress passed the tariff law for the whole coun¬ 
try. If the Supreme Court decides that Congress has the 
power, according to the Constitution, to pass such a law, 
that settles the matter. South Carolina and every other 
state must submit to this and ever}^ other law which Con¬ 
gress sees fit to make. 77 

This shows clearly that Daniel Webster’s belief was that 
the Union stood first and the state second. His deep love 
for the Union breathes all through his masterly speeches, 
the most famous of which is his “ Reply to Hayne. 77 Hayne, 
a senator from South Carolina, was on the side of the South, 
and set forth its views in a public debate. He had de¬ 
clared that the state was first and the Union second, and so 
powerful seemed his arguments that many doubted whether 
even Daniel Webster could answer them. 

But he did answer them. In a remarkable speech of 
four hours he held his listeners spellbound, while he argued, 
with wonderful eloquence and power, that the Union was 
supreme over the states. 

Again the great peacemaker, Henry Clay, brought for- 


318 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


ward a plan of settling the trouble between the two sections. 
By this compromise the duties were to be gradually lowered. 
This plan was adopted by Congress (1833), and again there 
was peace for a time. 

THE LAST DAYS OF THE THREE GREAT STATESMEN COME 

ABOUT THE TIME OF THE FUTILE COMPROMISE OF 1850 

The next dangerous outbreak between the North and 
the South came at the end of the Mexican War. Then 
arose the burning question: “Shall the territory we have 
acquired from Mexico be free or open to slavery ?” Of 
course the North wanted it to be free; the South wanted it 
to be open to slavery. 

Henry Clay tried again, as he had tried twice before— 
in 1820 and in 1833—to pour oil upon the troubled waters. 
Although he was now an old man of seventy-two and in 
poor health, he spoke seventy times in his powerful, per¬ 
suasive way to bring about the Compromise of 1850, 
which he hoped would establish harmony between the North 
and the South and save the Union. 

On one occasion when he was to speak he had to enter 
the Capitol leaning upon the arm of a friend, because he 
was too weak to climb the steps alone. After entering the 
Senate Chamber that day, the great speech he made was so 
long that his friends, fearing fatal results, urged him to 
stop. But he refused. Later he said that he did not dare 
to stop for fear he should never be able to begin again. 


THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


319 


Calhoun was no less ready to do all he could. Early in 
March, 1850, the white-haired man, now in his sixty-eighth 
}^ear and, like Clay, struggling with illness, went to the Sen¬ 
ate Chamber, swathed 
in flannels, to make his 
last appeal in behalf of 
the slaveholders. The 
powerful speech he 
made, which was in¬ 
tended as a warning to 
the North, expressed 
the deep and sincere 
conviction of the aged 
statesman that the 
break-up of the Union 
was at hand. He made 
a strong plea that the 
agitation against slavery should stop, and that the South, 
which, he said, was the weaker section, should be treated 
fairly by her stronger antagonist, the North. 

Having made this last supreme effort in defense of the 
section which he loved as he loved his own life, the pro¬ 
slavery veteran, supported by two of his friends, passed out 
of the Senate Chamber. 

But, in spite of Calhoun’s opposition, the Compromise of 
1850 passed. “Let California come in as a free state,’’ it 
said. This pleased the North. “Let the people in all the 





320 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


rest of the territory which we got from Mexico decide for 
themselves whether they shall have slavery or freedom.’’ 
This pleased the South. It also adopted the Fugitive Slave 
Law, which said: “When slaves run away from the South 
into the Northern states, they shall be returned to their 
masters; and when Northern people are called upon to help 
to capture them, they shall do so.” 

A month after his speech on this compromise Calhoun 
died. The last twenty years of his life had been largely 
devoted to trying to secure what he regarded as the rights 
of the slaveholders and of the whole South. He was honest 
in his views. He was also sincere in his convictions that 
the South was not receiving fair treatment from the North. 

Henrv Clay died in 1852. Some of the qualities that 
gave him his rare power over men were his magical voice, 
which was so deep and melodious that many people of his 
time said it was the finest musical instrument they had ever 
heard; his cheerful nature, which made him keenly enjoy 
life and delight to see others enjoy it; and above all else his 
never-swerving sincerity and honesty, which commanded 
the respect and confidence of all who knew him. Men be¬ 
lieved that Henry Clay was a true man. His popularity 
grew in strength as he grew in years. His many followers 
proudly called him “Gallant Harry of the West.” 

Webster’s power as an orator was still more remark¬ 
able. His voice was wonderful, his style was forceful, and 
his language was simple and direct. But, after all, it was 


THREE GREAT STATESMEN 


321 


his striking personal appearance which made the deepest 
impression upon the men and women who heard him speak. 
It is told that one day when he was walking through a street 
of Liverpool, a navvy said of him: “That must be a king!” 
On another occasion Sydney Smith exclaimed: “Good 



From the painting by Hale , in Faneuil Hall. 

Daniel Webster Making His Remarkable Speech. 


heavens, he is a small cathedral by himself!” He was 
nearly six feet tall. He had a massive head, a broad, deep 
brow, and great, coal-black eyes, which once seen could 
never be forgotten. 

He, too, was faithful in his devotion to his country. To 
the day of his death he showed his deep affection for the 
flag, the emblem of that Union which had inspired his 
noblest efforts. During the last two weeks of his life he 
was troubled much with sleeplessness. While through his 















322 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


open window he gazed at the starlit sky, his eyes would 
sometimes fall upon a small boat belonging to him, which 
floated near the shore not far away. By his direction a 
ship-lantern had been so placed that its light would fall 
upon the stars and stripes flying there. At six in the eve¬ 
ning the flag was raised and was kept flying until six in the 
morning up to the day of Webster’s death. 

He died in September, 1852, only a few weeks after his 
great compeer, Henry Clay. His was a master spirit, and 
the sorrow of his passing was well expressed by the stranger 
who said, when he looked at the face of the dead: “Daniel 
Webster, the world without you will be lonesome. 7 ’ 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What can you tell about the early life of John C. Calhoun? Of 

Henry Clay? Of Daniel Webster? Why were these three men 
considered the three great statesmen of their time? 

2. Why was Clay called “the Great Peacemaker”? 

3. Why were the people of South Carolina opposed to the high tariff 

laws of 1828 and 1832? 

4. What was Webster’s idea of the Union, and in what way did it differ 

from Hayne’s? 

5. What was the Missouri Compromise? What was the Compromise 

of 1850? Indicate on the map the territory covered by each 
compromise? Do you think a real difficulty can be settled by 
compromise ? 

6. What do you admire in each of the three great statesmen? Do you 

believe that each according to his way of thinking was sincerely 
trying to do the best thing for his country? 


CHAPTER XXIV 


THE CIVIL WAR DETERMINES THAT THE FEDERAL 
GOVERNMENT IS TO BE SUPREME 
OVER THE STATES 

THE BOYHOOD OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN PREPARES 
HIM FOR LEADERSHIP IN THE STRUGGLE 

It was thought by many that the Compromise of 1850 
would put an end to the bitter and violent feeling over the 
spread of slavery., but it did not. For in the North the op¬ 
position to its extension into new states became so power¬ 
ful that in five years there had grown up a great political 
party—the Republican party—whose main purpose was to 
oppose the spread of slavery. 

One of its ablest and most inspiring leaders was Abraham 
Lincoln. He was born in a rough cabin in Kentucky, 
February 12, 1809. When he was seven years old, the 
family moved to Indiana, and settled about eighteen miles 
north of the Ohio River. The journey to their new home 
was very tedious and lonely, for in some places they had to 
cut a roadway through the forest. It took them three days 
to travel the last eighteen miles. 

Having arrived safely in November, all set vigorously 

to work to provide a shelter against the winter. The seven- 

year-old boy was healthy, rugged, and active, and from early 

morning till late evening he worked with his father, chop- 

323 




324 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

ping trees and cutting poles and boughs for their “camp/ 5 
the rude shelter in which they were to live until spring. 

This “camp 5 ’ was a mere shed, only fourteen feet square 
and open on one side. -It was built of poles lying one upon 

another, and had a thatched roof 
of boughs and leaves. As there 
was no chimney, there could be no 
fire within the enclosure, and it 
was necessary to keep one burning 
all the time just in front of the 
open side. 

During this first winter in the 
wild woods of Indiana the little 
boy must have lived a very busy 
life. There was much to do in 
building the cabin which was to take the place of the 
“camp 55 and in cutting down trees and making a clearing 
for the corn-planting of the coming spring. 

After spending the winter in the “camp, 55 the Lincoln 
family, in the following spring, moved into the newly built 
log cabin. This had no windows, and no floor except the 
bare earth. There was an opening on one side, which was 
used as a doorway, but there was no door, nor was there so 
much as an animal’s skin to keep out the rain or the snow, 
or to protect the family from the cold wind. 

In this rough abode the rude and simple furniture was 
very much like what we have already seen in the cabins of 



Abraham Lincoln. 



THE CIVIL WAR 


325 



Lincoln’s Birthplace. 


the Tennessee settlers. For chairs there was the same kind 
of three-legged stools, made by smoothing the flat side of a 
split log and putting sticks into auger-holes underneath. 
The tables were as simply made, except that they stood on 
four legs instead of three. The crude bedsteads in the cor¬ 
ners of the cabin were made by sticking poles in between the 
logs at right angles to the wall, the outside corner where the 
poles met being supported by a crotched stick driven into 
the ground. Ropes were 
then stretched from side to 
side, making a framework 
upon which shucks and 
leaves were heaped for 
bedding, and over all were 
thrown the skins of wild animals for a covering. Pegs 
driven into the wall served as a stairway to the loft, where 
there was another bed of leaves. Here little Abe slept. 

Abraham Lincoln’s schooling was brief—not more than 
a year in all—and the schools he attended were like those 
we became acquainted with in the early settlements of Ken¬ 
tucky and Tennessee. During his last school-days he had 
to go daily a distance of four and one-half miles from his 
home, with probably no roadway except the deer-path 
through the forest. His midday lunch was a corn-dodger, 
which he carried in his pocket. 

In spite of this meagre schooling, however, the boy, by 
his self-reliance, resolute purpose, and good reading habits, 





326 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


acquired the very best sort of training for his future life. 
He had no books at his home, and, of course, there were but 
few to be had in that wild country from other homes. But 
among those he read over and over again, while a boy, were 
the Bible, “iEsop’s Fables,” “Robinson Crusoe,” “Pil¬ 
grim’s Progress,” “A History of the United States,” and 
Weems’s “Life of Washington,” all books of the right kind. 

His stepmother said of him: “He read everything he 
could lay his hands on, and when he came across a passage 
that struck him, he would write it down on boards, if he 
had no paper, and keep it before him until he could get 
paper. Then he would copy it, look at it, commit it to 
memory, and repeat it.” 

Wken night came he would find a seat in the corner by 
the fireside, or stretch out at length on the floor in front of 
it, and by the firelight write, or work sums in arithmetic, 
on a wooden shovel, using a charred stick for a pencil. 
After covering the shovel, he would shave it off and use 
the surface over again. 

But his time for arithmetic or for reading books was 
limited, for until he was twenty his father hired him out 
to do all sorts of work, at which he sometimes earned six 
dollars a month, and sometimes thirty-one cents a day. 
Money was always sorely needed in that household, the 
poor farm yielding only a small return for much hard work. 
For this reason, just before Abraham Lincoln came of age, 
his family, with all their possessions packed in a cart drawn 


THE CIVIL WAR 


327 


by four oxen, moved again toward the West. For two weeks 
they travelled across the country into Illinois, and finally 
made a new home on the banks of the Sangamon River. 



Lincoln Studying by Firelight. 


On reaching the end of the journey (in the spring of 
1830), Abraham helped to build a log cabin and to clear 
fifteen acres of land for planting. This was the last work 
he did for his father, as he was now some months over 
twenty-one, and was quite ready to go out into the world 
and work for himself. When he left his father’s house he 
had nothing, not even a good suit of clothes, and one of 








































328 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


the first things he did was to split rails for enough brown 
jeans to make him a pair of trousers. As he was six feet 

four inches tall, three and one-half yards were needed! 
For these he split 1,400 rails. 

At times throughout life he was subject to deep depres- 



Lincoln Splitting Rails. 


sion, which made his face unspeakably sad. But as a rule 
he was cheerful and merry, and on account of his good 
stories, which he told with rare skill, he was in great demand 
in social gatherings and at the crossroads grocery-store. 
He was a giant in strength and a skilful wrestler. This 
helped to make him popular. 

For some months after leaving his father’s home, Lincoln 
worked in the neighborhood, most of the time as a farm- 








THE CIVIL WAR 


329 


hand and rail-splitter. But he desired something different. 
From time to time he had watched the boats carrying freight 
up and down the river, and had wondered where the vessels 
were going. Eager to learn about the life outside his nar¬ 
row world, he determined to become a boatman. As soon 
as he could, therefore, he 
found employment on a 
flatboat that carried corn, 
hogs, hay, and other farm 
produce down to New 
Orleans. 

But tiring at length of 
the long journeys, he be¬ 
came clerk in a village store 
at New Salem, Illinois. 

Many stories are told of 
Lincoln’s honesty in his 
dealings with the people in 

this village store. It is said that on one occasion a 
woman, in making change, overpaid him the trifling sum 
of six cents. When Lincoln found out the mistake, he 
walked three miles and back that night to give the woman 
her money. 

In less than a year the closing of this village store left 
him without employment, and after this he had a varied 
experience, first in a grocery-store of his own, next as post¬ 
master in New Salem, and then as a surveyor. 



Lincoln as a Boatman. 






















330 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


LINCOLN IS ELECTED PRESIDENT BY A NEW PARTY OPPOSED 

TO THE EXTENSION OF SLAVERY 

After many trials at various occupations, he decided at 
last to become a lawyer, and after being admitted to the 
bar, he opened an office at Springfield, Illinois. He suc¬ 
ceeded well in his chosen profession, and also took a keen 
interest in the larger affairs of his community and state. 

In this wider field of action certain qualities of mind 
and heart greatly aided him. For, in spite of scant learn¬ 
ing, he was a good public speaker and skilful debater, be¬ 
cause he thought clearly and convinced those who heard 
him of his honesty and high purpose. Such a man is certain 
to win his way in the world. In due time he was elected 
to Congress, where his interest in various public ques¬ 
tions, especially that of slavery, became much quickened. 

On this question his clear head and warm heart united 
in forming strong convictions that had great weight with 
the people. He continued to grow in political favor and, 
in 1858, received the nomination of the Republican party 
for the United States Senate. His opponent was Stephen 
A. Douglas, known as the “Little Giant/’ on account of 
his short stature and powerful eloquence as an orator. 

The debates between the two men, preceding the elec¬ 
tion, were followed with eager interest all over the country. 
Lincoln argued with great power against the spread of slavery 
into the new states, and although he lost the election, he 


DODD 

































































THE CIVIL WAR 


331 


won such favorable notice that two years later a greater 
honor came to him. In 1860 the Republican National 
Convention, which met at Chicago, nominated him as its 
candidate for President, and a few months later he was 
elected. 

The agitation over slavery was growing more and more 
bitter, and when Lincoln was elected some of the Southern 
states threatened to go out of the Union. They claimed 
that it was their right to decide for themselves whether they 
should secede. On the other hand, the North declared that 
no state could secede without the consent of the other 
states. 

Before Lincoln was inaugurated seven of the Southern 
states had carried out their threat to secede. 

JEFFERSON DAVIS BECOMES PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTHERN 

CONFEDERACY 

Delegates from six of the seven* Southern states which 
had seceded met at Montgomery, Alabama, on February 
4,1861, and organized the “Confederate States of America.’ 1 
Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected President and 
Alexander Stephens of Georgia Vice-President. 

Davis, the leader of the South during the four years 
of the war, was born in Kentucky in 1808 and died in 1889. 
He graduated from West Point in 1828 and served the 
Government of the United States faithfully and with dis- 


* Texas was not represented. 


332 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


tinction until the outbreak of the war. After some years 
in the United States army he became a cotton-planter in 
Mississippi. In 1845 he was a member of the Lower House 
of Congress; he re-entered the army at the outbreak of the 

Mexican War, distinguishing him¬ 
self for bravery; and in 1847 he 
was elected a senator from Missis¬ 
sippi. He was Secretary of War in 
Pierce’s Cabinet, 1853-1857, and in 
1857 again represented his state in 
the United States Senate, remain¬ 
ing there until Mississippi seceded. 

Though Davis was severely criti¬ 
cised for many of his acts as Presi¬ 
dent of the Confederate States, his 
great ability is now recognized by 
all. After the close of the war he was imprisoned for a 
time in Fortress Monroe and was bitterly condemned by 
the Northern people as the chief representative of the 
South. Throughout this trying period he conducted him¬ 
self with dignity and patience and became the idol of the 
Southern people. To-day they look on Jefferson Davis as 
one of their great heroes. 

Upon the organization of the Confederate Government 
with Davis as President the excitement everywhere was in¬ 
tense. Many people regretted that a man of larger ex¬ 
perience than Lincoln had not been chosen to be at the head 



Jefferson Davis. 





THE CIVIL WAR 


333 


of the government. They were anxious lest this plain man 
of the people, this awkward backwoodsman, should not be 
able to lead the nation in those dark and troubled days. 
But, little as they trusted him, he was well fitted for the 
work that lay before him. 

Lincoln’s great purpose is to save the union 

His inauguration was but a few weeks over when the 
Civil War began. We cannot here pause for a full account 
of all Lincoln’s trials and difficulties in this fearful struggle. 
During those four fateful years, 1861-1865, his burdens 
were almost overwhelming. But, like Washington, he be¬ 
lieved that “right makes might” and must prevail, and this 
belief sustained him. 

Although his whole nature revolted against slavery, he 
had no power to do away with it in the states where it ex¬ 
isted, for by his office he was sworn to defend the Consti¬ 
tution. “ My great purpose,” he said, “is to save the Union, 
and not to destroy slavery.” 

But as the war went on he became certain that the slaves, 
by remaining on the plantations and producing food for the 
Southern soldiers, were aiding the Southern cause. He 
therefore determined to set the slaves free in all the territory 
where people were fighting to break up the Union, just as 
fast as it was conquered by Union troops. “As commander- 
in-chief of the Union armies,” he reasoned, “I have a right 
to do this as a war measure.” The famous state paper in 


334 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


which Lincoln declared that such slaves were free was 
called the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863). 

This freeing of a part of the slaves not only hastened the 

end of the war but led, 
after its close, to the 
final emancipation of 
all the slaves. We 
should remember that 
the man who did most 
to bring about this re¬ 
sult was Abraham Lin¬ 
coln, whose name has 
gone down in history as 
the great emancipator. 

Passing over the 
events of the war, which 
we shall consider later 
in connection with its 
great generals, let us 
look ahead two years. 
On April 9, 1865, 
General Lee, as we shall see a little later, surrendered his 
army to General Grant at Appomattox Court House. By this 
act the war was brought to a close, and there was great re¬ 
joicing in the North and great relief throughout the South. 

But suddenly universal sorrow followed joy and relief, 
for a shocking thing happened. Five days after Lee’s 



Lincoln Visiting Wounded Soldiers. 



THE CIVIL WAR 


335 


surrender, while Lincoln, with his wife and friends, was 
attending a play at Ford’s Theatre, in Washington, a half- 
demented actor, John Wilkes Booth, entered the President’s 
box, shot him in the back- of the head, jumped to the stage, 
and escaped. 

The martyr President lingered during the long hours of 
the sad night, tenderly watched by his family and a few 
friends. When, on the following morning, he breathed his 
last, Secretary Stanton said with truth: “Now he belongs 
to the ages.” 

The people deeply mourned the loss of him who had 
wisely and bravely led them through four years of heavy 
trial and anxiety. His life as expressed in devotion to his 
country and in noble self-sacrifice is one of the richest gifts 
in our heritage as a nation. 

ROBERT E. LEE BECOMES THE GALLANT LEADER AND IDOL 

OF THE SOUTH 

Having followed a few of the leading events in the re¬ 
markable career of our martyr President, let us turn our 
thoughts to the Civil War, through which it was Lincoln’s 
great work to guide us as a nation. It was a struggle that 
tested the manhood, quite as much as the resources, of the 
warring sections, and both sides might well be proud of the 
bravery and ability of their officers and soldiers. Certainly 
both sides had generals who ranked with the greatest mili¬ 
tary leaders of all time. 


336 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


One of the ablest generals commanding the Confederate 
troops was Robert E. Lee. He was born in Virginia, Jan¬ 
uary 19, 1807, his father being the Revolutionary general 
known as “Light-Horse Harry.” Although the records of 

his boyhood days 
are meagre, we 

know that the Lees 

« 

moved from Strat¬ 
ford to Alexandria 
to educate their 
children when 
little Robert was 
about four years 
old. Here he was 
prepared for West 
Point Military Academy, which he entered at the age of 
eighteen. He made a good record as a student and was 
graduated second in his class. 

Two years later he married Miss Custis, a great-grand¬ 
daughter of Mrs. George Washington, and through this mar¬ 
riage he shared with his wife the control of large property, 
which included plantations and a number of slaves. 

Immediately after leaving West Point, he entered the 
army as an engineer, and during the Mexican War distin¬ 
guished himself for his ability and braver} r . A few years 
later (1852), he was appointed superintendent, of West 
Point Academy, where he remained three years. 



Lee's Horae at Arlington, Virginia. 













THE CIVIL WAR 


337 


At the outbreak of the Civil War he was so highly es¬ 
teemed as an officer in the United States army, that he 
would have been appointed commander of the Union armies 
if he had been willing to accept the position. He loved the 
Union, and was opposed to seces¬ 
sion, but when Virginia, his na¬ 
tive state, seceded, he felt that it 
was his duty to go with her. 

That the decision was painful 
to him is made plain in a letter 
to his sister, then living in Balti¬ 
more. “With all my devotion to 
the Union,” he said, “and the 
feeling of loyalty and duty of an 
American citizen, I have not been 
able to make up my mind to raise my hand against 
my relatives, my children, my home. I know you will 
blame me, but you must think as kindly of me as you can, 
and believe that I have endeavored to do what I thought 
right.” 

Soon after he decided to go with Virginia, he accepted 
the command of the Virginia state forces, and within a 
year from that time became military adviser of Jefferson 
Davis, President of the Confederacy. 

In 1862, the second year of the war, Lee was in com¬ 
mand of the Confederate army in Virginia. General 
McClellan, who commanded a large Union army, had been 






338 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


trying to capture Richmond; the capital of the Confederate 
States. After fighting a series of battles ; he approached so 
close to Richmond that his soldiers* could see the spires of 
the churches. But as the city was strongly fortified he re¬ 
treated to the James River. During this retreat; which 
lasted a week ; the “Seven Days’ Battles” were fought. 

Having saved Richmond; Lee marched north into Mary¬ 
land; expecting the people to rise and join his forces. But 
they were loyal to the Union; and the terrible battle of An- 
tietani; or Sharpsburg (September; 1862) ; compelled Lee to 
retreat to Virginia. 

“STONEWALL” JACKSON IS ONE OF THE ABLEST GENERALS 

UNDER LEE 

In this and other battles Lee’s most effective helper was 
General Thomas J. Jackson, “Stonewall” Jackson ; as he 
was called. Jackson won his nickname at the battle of 
Bull Run. One of the Confederate generals, who was try¬ 
ing to hearten his retreating men, cried out to them: “See, 
there is Jackson, standing like a stone wall! Rally round 
the Virginians ! 1 ’ From that hour of heroism he was known 
as Stonewall Jackson, and for his bravery in this battle he 
was made a major-general. He was a stubborn fighter, 
and so furious in his enthusiasm that “his soldiers marched 
to death when he bade them. What was even harder, they 
marched at the double-quick through Virginia mud, with¬ 
out shoes, without food, without sleep.” They cheerfully 


THE CIVIL WAR 


339 


did his bidding because they loved him. The sight of his 
old uniform and scrawny sorrel horse always stirred the 
hearts of his followers. 

Jackson was a deeply religious man. In spirit he was 
so much of a Puritan that it caused him great regret to 
march or to fight on a Sunday. He 
was devoted to Lee and placed the 
greatest confidence in him. “He is 
the only man I would follow blind¬ 
fold/’ he said, and on his death-bed 
he exclaimed: “Better that ten Jack- 
sons should fall than one Lee!” 

Stonewall Jackson was shot at the 
battle of Chancellorsville, but not by 

Thomas J. Jackson. 

the enemy. He and his escort had 

ridden out beyond his line of battle, when, being mistaken 
for the enemy, they were fired upon by some of their own 
soldiers, and Jackson was mortally wounded. His death 
was a great loss to the Southern army. 

J. E. B. STUART WOULD ATTACK ANYTHING ANYWHERE 

Another of General Lee’s very able helpers was General 
Stuart. He wrote his name J. E. B. Stuart. So his admir¬ 
ers called him “Jeb.” 

He was absolutely fearless. “He would attack anything 
anywhere,” and he inspired his men with the same zeal. 
He was noted for falling into dangerous situations and then 



340 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


cleverly getting himself out. His men were used to this. 
They trusted him completely and without question. They 
loved him, too, for his good comradeship. For, although he 
preserved the strictest discipline, he frolicked with his offi¬ 



cers like a boy, playing at snowballs, or marbles, or whatever 
they chose, and enjoying it all heartily. 

He was so fond of gay, martial music that he kept his 
banjo-player, Sweeney, always with him, and worked in 
his tent to the cheerful accompaniment of his favorite 
songs, now and then leaning back to laugh and join in the 
choruses. 

His gay spirit found expression also in the clothes he 
wore. Listen to this description of him: “His fighting- 























THE CIVIL WAR 


341 


jacket shone with dazzling buttons and was covered with 
gold braid; his hat was looped up with a golden star and 
decorated with a black ostrich plume; his fine buff gauntlets 
reached to the elbow; around his waist was tied a splendid 
yellow sash, and his spurs were pure gold.” These spurs, 
of which he was immensely proud, were a gift from Balti¬ 
more women. His battle-flag was a gorgeous red one, which 
he insisted upon keeping with him, although it often drew 
the enemy’s fire. 

Stuart was very proud of his men and their pluck. He 
knew by name every man in the first brigade. 

It was his strong desire that when death should come, 
he might meet it while leading a cavalry charge; and he 
had his wish. For he was struck down near Richmond, 
in 1864, while he was leading an attack against Sheridan. 
He was only thirty-one when he died, deeply mourned by 
all his men. 

THE TIDE TURNS AGAINST THE SOUTH AT GETTYSBURG 

But to return to General Lee. After winning the two 
important battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, 
he decided that he would again invade the North (1863). 
He believed that a great victory north of the Potomac River 
might lead to the capture of Philadelphia and Washington, 
and thus end the war. 

Having marched boldly into Pennsylvania, he met the 
Union army, under General Meade, at the little town of 


342 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


Gettysburg^ not far from the southern border of the state. 
There the most terrible battle of the war and, in its results, 
one of the greatest battles of all history took place. After 
three days of fighting, in which the loss on both sides was 
fearful, Lee was defeated and forced to retreat to Virginia. 

The defeat at Gettysburg was a crushing blow to the 
hopes of the South. Lee himself felt this to be true. And, 
grieving over the heavy loss of his men in the famous Pick¬ 
ett’s charge, he said to one of his generals: “All this has 
been my fault. It is I that have lost this fight, and you 
must help me out of it the best you can.” But Lee’s officers 
and soldiers still trusted their commander. They said: 
“Uncle Robert will get us into Washington yet.” 

The surrender of another division of the Confederate 
army, fighting far away on the Mississippi River, added 
defeat to defeat. On the day following the battle of Gettys¬ 
burg, General Grant captured Vicksburg, the greatest Con¬ 
federate stronghold on the Mississippi River. The South 
could no longer hope for victory. 

ULYSSES S. GRANT BECOMES THE GREAT GENERAL OF THE 

UNION ARMIES 

Before going on with the story of the war, let us pause 
for a little to catch a glimpse of Ulysses S. Grant, the 
greatest general that the North produced throughout the 
war. 

He was born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, in April, 1822, 


THE CIVIL WAR 


343 


but in the following year the family removed to George¬ 
town, Ohio, where they lived many years, the father being 
a farmer and manufacturer of leather. Ulysses did not like 
the leather business, but he did like work on the farm. 
When only seven 
years old, he hauled 
from the forest, a 
mile from the vil¬ 
lage, all the wood 
.which was needed 
in the home and at 

eleven to seven¬ 
teen, according to 
his own story as 
told in his “Per¬ 
sonal Memoirs,” he 
ploughed the soil, 
cultivated the growing corn and potatoes, sawed fire-wood, 
and did any other work a farmer boy might be expected 
to do. He had his play times also, fishing, swimming in 
the creek not far from his home, driving about the country, 
and skating with other boys. 

He liked horses, and early became a skilful rider. A 
story is told of him which indicates not only that he was a 
good horseman but that he had “bulldog grit” as well. 


the leather factor}". 
From the age of 



Union Soldiers. 














344 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


One day, when he was at a circus, the manager offered a 
silver dollar to any one who could ride a certain mule 
around the ring. Several persons, one after the other, 

mounted the animal, only to be 
thrown over its head. Young 
Ulysses was among those who of¬ 
fered to ride, but, like the others, 
he failed. Then, pulling off his coat, 
he got on the animal again. With 
his legs firmly around the mule’s 
body he seized it by the tail, and 
rode in triumph around the ring 
amid the cheers of the crowd. 
Although he cared little for study, his father wished to 
give him all the advantages of a good education, and got 
for him an appointment to West Point. After graduating 
he wished to leave the army and become an instructor in 
mathematics at his alma mater. But, as the Mexican War 
broke out about that time, he entered active service. Soon 
he gave striking evidence of that unflinching bravery for 
which he was later to become noted on the battle-fields of 
the Civil War. • - 

At the close of the Mexican War, he resigned from the 
army and engaged in farming and business until the out¬ 
break of the Civil War. With the news that the Southern 
troops had fired on the flag at Fort Sumter, Grant’s patri¬ 
otism was aroused. Without delay he rejoined the army 



Ulysses S. Grant. 


THE CIVIL WAR 


345 


and at once took an active part in getting ready for the 
war. First as colonel, and then as brigadier-general, his 
ability as a leader quickly developed. 

Soon after taking command, his army captured Forts 
Henry and Donelson, in Tennessee, the centre of a strong 
Confederate line of defense. Following up his advantage 
he defeated the Confederates at Pittsburg Landing, not far 
from the village of Shiloh, by whose name the battle is now 
generally known. 

By this victory Grant broke the Confederates’ second 
line of defense. Although they fought bravely to keep con¬ 
trol of the Mississippi, by the close of 1862 they had lost 
every stronghold on the river except Port Hudson and 
Vicksburg. 

On July 4, 1863, Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant 
and four days later Port Hudson came under the control of 
Union troops. 

By his campaign in the west, and especially by his cap¬ 
ture of Vicksburg, General Grant won the confidence of the 
people and of President Lincoln, who in 1864 put him in 
command of all the Union armies. In presenting the new 
commission, Lincoln addressed him in these words: “As 
the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain 
you.” General Grant replied, in accepting the commission: 
“With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on so 
many fields of our common country, it will be my earnest 
endeavor not to disappoint your expectations.” 


346 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN AND HIS ARMY MARCH 
“ FROM ATLANTA TO THE SEA ” 

In the spring of that year the Confederates had two 
large armies in the field. One of them, under General Lee, 
was defending Richmond. The other, under General 
Joseph E. Johnston, was defending their cause in Tennessee. 
General Grant’s plan was to send General Sherman, in 
whom he had great confidence, against General Johnston, 
with orders to capture Atlanta, which was now the work¬ 
shop and storehouse of the Confederacy. Grant himself 
was to march against Lee and capture Richmond. The 
two great watchwords were: “On to Atlanta!” and “On to 
Richmond!” 

Early in May both generals began their campaigns. 
Starting from Chattanooga, in Tennessee, Sherman began 
to crowd Johnston toward Atlanta. His advance was slow 
but steady, and on September 2 he captured that city. 

A little later Sherman started on his famous march 
“from Atlanta to the sea.” His purpose was to weaken 
the Confederates by destroying their railroads, bridges, 
and supplies. Marching his army in four columns, over 
a belt of territory sixty miles wide, he reached his goal 
four days before Christmas and captured the city of Sa¬ 
vannah. 

During his march Sherman laid waste a vast stretch 
of country by destroying crops, horses, cattle, sheep, and 


THE CIVIL WAR 


347 


almost everything else that might aid the Confederacy. 
In his report he said: “I estimate the damage done to the 
State of Georgia and its military resources at $100,000,000, 
at least $20,000,000 of which ... is simple waste and 
destruction. 7 7 Although such a course 
may seem cruel, it is considered just 
as good generalship to starve an 
army into submission as to destroy 
it by fire-arms. But it indicates war’s 
awful destructiveness. It is not 
suiprising that Sherman afterward 
exclaimed “War is hell! 77 and that 
even to-day his name to the South¬ 
ern people typifies war’s horror and 

William Tecumseh Sherman. 

brutality. 

Let us make the acquaintance of this remarkable man. 
He was at this time forty-four. Standing six feet high, with 
a military bearing, he gave the impression of having great 
physical endurance. He had muscles of iron, and no mat¬ 
ter whether exposed to drenching rain, bitter cold, or burn¬ 
ing heat, he never gave signs of fatigue. Many nights he 
slept only three or four hours, but was able to fall asleep 
easily almost anywhere he happened to be, whether ljbng 
upon the wet ground or on a hard floor, or even amid the 
din and roar of muskets and cannon. 

In battle he could not, like General Grant, sit calmly 
smoking and looking on. He was too much excited to sit 







348 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


still, and his face reflected his thoughts. Yet his mind was 
clear and his decisions were rapid. 

His soldiers admired him and gave him their un¬ 
bounded confidence. One of his staff said of him while 
they were on the “March to the Sea”: “The army has 
such an abiding faith in its leader that it will go wher- 



Route of Sherman’s March to the Sea. 


ever he leads.” At Savannah the soldiers would proudly 
remark as their general rode by: “There goes the old man. 
All’s right.” 

While General Sherman ; in Georgia, was pushing his 
army “On to Atlanta” and “On to the Sea,” Grant at the 
head of his army was opposing Lee and was trying to reach 
Richmond. With this aim in view, Grant crossed the Rapi- 
dan River and entered the wilderness in direct line for Rich¬ 
mond. Here fighting was stern business. The woods were 










































THE CIVIL WAR 


349 


so dark and the underbrush was so thick that the men could 
not see one another twenty feet away. 

Lee’s army furiously contested every foot of the advance. 
In the terrible battles that followed. Grant lost heavily, but 
he pressed doggedly on, writing to President Lincoln his 
stubborn resolve: “I propose to fight it out on this line if 
it takes all summer.” 

It did take all summer and longer. Moreover, Grant 
found that he could not possibly capture Richmond from the 
north. So he crossed the James River and attacked the 
city from the south. Yet when autumn ended, Lee was still 
holding out, and Grant’s army settled down for the winter 
south of Petersburg. 

PHTLTP H. SHERIDAN, A CAVALRY LEADER WHO WOULD NOT 

BE DEFEATED 

At this time one of Grant’s most able generals was 
Philip H. Sheridan, a brilliant cavalry leader. As a boy he 
had a strong liking for books, and especially those which 
told of war and adventure. While he read, perhaps he 
dreamed of the days when he too might be a great soldier. 

He first came into prominent notice in the summer and 
autumn of 1864, when he was thirty-three years old. He 
was short, and, as he weighed but 115 pounds, was not 
impressive in person; but when commanding in a cavalry 
charge his presence was most inspiring. 

No matter how trying the situation might be, he never 


350 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


lost self-control, and was always kind and friendly toward 
those working with him. But perhaps his finest quality 
was a stern devotion to duty. He said, in effect: “In all 
the various positions I have held, my sole aim has ever 
been to be the best officer I could and let the future take 
care of itself. ” Such a man, whether civilian or soldier, is a 
true patriot. 

It was early in August, 1864, that General Grant placed 
Sheridan in command of the Union army in the Shenan¬ 
doah valley, with orders to drive the enemy out and destroy 
their food-supplies. 

Sheridan entered the valley from the north, destroyed 
large quantities of supplies, and after some fighting went 
into camp on the north side of Cedar Creek in October. A 
few days later he was called to Washington. Returning 
on the 18th, he stayed overnight at Winchester, some 
fourteen miles from Cedar Creek. 

About six o’clock the next morning, a picket on duty 
reported that he could hear cannon in the direction of 
Cedar Creek. At first Sheridan paid little attention. 
Then he began to be disturbed. He writes: “I tried to go 
to sleep again, but grew so restless that I could not and soon 
got up and dressed myself.” Eating a hurried breakfast, 
he mounted his splendid coal-black steed, Rienzi, and 
started for the battle-field. This was the ride that after¬ 
ward became famous as “Sheridan’s Ride.” 

As he rode forward he caught the sound of booming 


THE CIVIL WAR 


351 


cannon. Then he saw a part of his army in full retreat, 
and fugitives told him that a battle had been fought against 
General Early’s Confederates and everything was lost. 

With two aides and twenty men Sheridan gallantly 
dashed to the front as fast as his foaming steed could carry 
him. Meeting a retreating officer 
who said “The army is whipped/’ 

Sheridan replied: “You are, but 
the army isn’t.” 

As he pushed ahead he said to 
his soldiers: “If I had been with 
you this morning this disaster 
would not have happened. We 
must face the other way. We 
must go back and recover our 
camp.” 

As soon as his troops caught sight of “Little Phil,” as 
they liked to call him, they threw their hats into the air 
and with enthusiastic cheers shouldered their muskets and 
faced about. Sheridan brought order out of confusion, 
and in the battle that followed drove Early’s army from the 
field in utter rout. Great was the rejoicing in the North 
over this victory, and Sheridan himself was raised to the 
rank of major-general. 

The victory was largely due to Sheridan’s magnetic in¬ 
fluence over his men. The following incident illustrates 
this remarkable power of “Little Phil”: At the battle of 



Philip H. Sheridan. 



352 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


Five Forks, which took place near Richmond the next spring 
(1865), a wounded soldier in the line of battle near Sheridan 
stumbled and was falling behind his regiment. But when 
Sheridan cried out “Never mind, my man; there’s no harm 
done!” the soldier, although with a bullet in his brain, went 
forward with his fighting comrades till he fell dead. 

THE TWO GREAT RIVAL GENERALS MEET TO END THE WAR 

Let us now return to Grant. After remaining near 
Petersburg all winter, in the spring of 1865 he pressed so 
hard upon the Confederate army that Lee had to leave 
Richmond and move rapidly westward in order to escape 
capture. For a week Grant closely followed Lee’s troops, 
who were almost starving; all they had to eat was parched 
corn and green shoots of trees, and the outlook was so dark 
that many had deserted and started for home. 

There was but one thing left for Lee to do. That was 
to give up the struggle, for he knew the Southern cause 
was hopeless. An interview, therefore, was arranged with 
Grant. It was held on Sunday morning, April 9, in a house 
standing in the little village of Appomattox Court House. 

The result of the interview was the surrender of General 
Lee and his army. When this took place General Grant 
showed clearly his great kindness of heart and his fine feel¬ 
ing. He issued orders that all the Confederates who owned 
horses and mules should be allowed to take them home. 
“They will need them for the spring ploughing,” he said. 


THE CIVIL WAR 


353 


He also had abundant food sent at once to the hungry Con¬ 
federate soldiers. Never did General Grant appear more 
truly great than on the occasion of Lee’s surrender. 

He was indeed a remarkable man in many ways. While 
in the army he seemed to have wonderful powers of endur¬ 
ance. He said of himself: “Whether I slept on the ground 
or in a tent, whether I slept one hour or ten in the twenty- 
four, whether I had one meal or three, or none, made no 
difference. I would lie down and sleep in the rain without 
caring.” 

Yet his appearance did not indicate robust health. He 
was only five feet eight inches tall, round-shouldered, and 
not at all military in bearing or walk. But his brown 
hair, blue eyes, and musical voice gave a pleasing im¬ 
pression. He was of a sunny disposition and of singularly 
pure mind. Never in his life was he known to tell an 
unclean story. In manner he was quiet and simple, yet 
dignified, and he was always ready when there was a severe 
ordeal to face. 

While the two great commanders, Grant and Lee, were 
much unlike in personal appearance, they had certain quali¬ 
ties in common, for they were both simple-hearted and frank, 
and men of deep and tender feelings. 

April 9 was a sad day for General Lee. As he stepped 
out of the door of the house where the terms of surrender 
had been agreed upon and stood in silence, waiting for his 
horse to be brought to him, he clasped his hands together 


354 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


as if in deep pain and looked far away into the distance. 
Then, mounting his steed, he rode back to the Confederate 
camp, where his officers and men awaited his coming. 

On his approach the)^ crowded about their beloved chief 
in their eagerness to touch him, or even his horse. Looking 
upon his veteran soldiers for the last time, Lee said, with 
saddened voice: a We have fought through the war to¬ 
gether; I have done the best I could for you. My heart 
is too full to say more.” Then he silently rode off to his 
tent. 

These simple, heartfelt words to his “children,” as he 
called his soldiers, were in keeping with his habit during 
the entire war. Rarely did he leave his tent to sleep in a 
house, and often his diet consisted of salted cabbage only. 
He thought it a luxury to have sweet potatoes and butter¬ 
milk. 

The gentleness and kindness of General Lee were seen 
also in his fondness for animals. When the war was over 
his iron-gray horse, Traveller, which had been his faithful 
companion throughout the struggle, was very dear to him. 
Often, when entering the gate on returning to his house, 
he would turn aside to stroke the noble creature, and often 
the two wandered forth into the mountains, companions to 
the last. 

Within a year after the close of the war General Lee 
was elected president of Washington College, at Lexington, 
Virginia—now called Washington and Lee University. 


THE CIVIL WAR 


355 


There he remained until his death, in 1870. We remember 
him as a distinguished general and a high-minded gentleman. 

Three years after the close of the war (1868) General 
Grant was elected President of the United States, and served 



two terms. Upon retiring from the presidency, he made a 
tour around the world, a more unusual thing in those days 
than now. He was everywhere received, by rulers and 
people alike, with marked honor and distinction. 

His last days were full of suffering from an illness which 
proved a worse enemy than ever he had found on the field 
of battle. After nine months of brave endurance he died 
















356 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


on July 23, 1885. Undoubtedly he was one of the ablest 
generals of history. 

THE NATION IS UNITED AFTER FOUR YEARS OF TERRIBLE 

STRUGGLE 

The war, in which these two distinguished commanders, 
General Grant and General Lee, had led opposing sides, 
cost the nation not only thousands of men, the vast ma¬ 
jority in the prime of their young manhood, but millions 
of dollars. It had two striking results: it preserved the 
Union, for it was now clear that no state could secede at 
will; and it put an end to slavery. The Emancipation 
Proclamation had set free only those slaves in the states 
and parts of states which were under the control of Union 
armies; but after the war the Thirteenth Aunendment set 
free all the slaves in all the states in the Union for all time. 
These were the benefits purchased by the terrible sacrifice 
of life. 

If we count those who were slain on the field of battle 
and those who died from wounds, disease, and suffering in 
wretched prisons, the loss of men was equal to seven hun¬ 
dred a day during the four long years of the war. 

When the war was over a wave of intense relief swept 
over the country. In many homes were glad reunions; in 
others, hallowed memories. But in the united nation there 
was hope of a new patriotism which in time would bind all 
sections into a closer union. 


THE CIVIL WAR 


357 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell what you can about Lincoln’s early life. In what ways did 

Lincoln have excellent training for the Presidency of the United 
States ? 

2. Was Lincoln educated according to the usual meaning of the word? 

3. What was the great issue in the presidential election of 1860? What 

was Lincoln’s immediate problem following his inauguration? 

4. Did all the slave states secede? Name and point out on the map 

those that seceded and those that remained in the Union. 

5. Why was Jefferson Davis chosen President of the Confederacy? 

6. When was the Emancipation Proclamation issued? Was it Lincoln’s 

original purpose to free the slaves? What was his great purpose? 
What is Lincoln’s place in our history? 

7. How did Lee’s early training differ from Lincoln’s? What distinctive 

services had he rendered to his country? 

8. The text says Lee was devoted to the Union. Why then did he go> 

with his state when it seceded? How do you estimate Lee as 
a man and as a general? 

9. Tell something that gives each of the following a claim to distinction: 

“Stonewall” Jackson, Stuart, Sherman, Sheridan. 

10. Why did Lincoln finally appoint Grant general of all the Union 

armies? What did Grant finally achieve? 

11. What do you admire in Grant and in Lee at the time of the surrender ? 

12. What did the Civil War settle? Think clearly on this. 


CHAPTER XXV 


LEADERS IN THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 

I 

CLARENCE KING, A YOUNG GEOLOGIST, UNDERTAKES AN 
IMPORTANT SURVEY IN THIS VAST REGION 

At the close of the Civil War the larger part of our 
country lying west of the Mississippi River was still un¬ 
settled. Beyond the borders of the older states of Iowa, 
Missouri, Arkansas, and the more thickly settled parts of 
Minnesota and Texas, there were not more than 1,500,000 
people. Much of that vast expanse of territory, comprising 
nearly two-thirds of our whole country, was inhabited only 
by roving tribes of Indians. 

Examine your map; count the states that have been 
admitted to the Union since 1865; and add together their 
populations. Note how many million people there are now 
in that same area, and ask yourself how in sixty years the 
great change came about. What was it that drew so many 
settlers from their old homes to build new ones in these 
distant plains, amid mitrod valleys and mountains? 

You will find the answer in the treasure which had long 
remained buried in the earth and had only recently been 
discovered. Like a magnet, it drew, first prospectors and 

miners, and then settlers, in ever-increasing numbers. 

358 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 


359 


Among the earliest prospecting engineers was Clarence 
King, who took the trail in the spring of 1863, soon after 
graduating from Yale College. He had varied experiences 
on horseback and on foot, roughing it with the miners and 
sharing the perils of the plains. After a short stop at Vir¬ 
ginia City, he crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and 
made his way to Sacramento, where he took passage on a 
river steamer to San Francisco. 

There a United States geological survey of California 
had already begun, and King was appointed an assistant 
geologist, beginning his work in September, 1863. 

While exploring the Sierra Nevada Mountains he planned 
a much larger project. It was to induce Congress to 
authorize a geological survey that would cross the Rocky 
Mountains and extend to the shores of the Pacific. 

Its purpose was to find out what kind of minerals were 
locked up in the mountains, for King believed that, if the 
mines proved to be of great value, they would attract 
miners and settlers, just as the gold had attracted them to 
California some years earlier. 

In March, 1867, Congress passed a law authorizing the 
Secretary of War to direct a geological exploration of the 
territory between the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada Moun¬ 
tains. A report was to be made on all the resources of the 
region—animal, vegetable, and mineral. 

Clarence King was appointed geologist in charge. His 
task was heavy, but in fulfilling it he helped to open up the 


360 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


Far West for immediate settlement. He stands as a type 
of many eager, hard-working, and hopeful engineers who 
braved all the hardships of pioneer life in laying open the 
secrets of the mountains. Their services were of immense 
value to the country, for during the next thirty years de¬ 
velopment was amazing. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. What states have been admitted to the Union since the close of the 

Civil War, and what is their population now? 

2. Explain the reason for this wonderful increase in population. 

3. What types of leaders were needed in the opening of the Far West? 

4. Why would geologists and prospectors be among the first to go into 

this new country? 


II 

THE MINER, LURED BY GOLD, ENDURES EVERY HARDSHIP 

While engineers were making scientific records of their dis¬ 
coveries, hundreds of other men, unheard of in the world of 
science, were plying pick-axe and shovel to unearth the hard 
metals. These men were not geologists; nor were they work¬ 
ing under the government; they were prospectors and min¬ 
ers. Yet while only hunting for gold, they were serving their 
country, for they were causing people to think about the 
mountain regions; and this led to the planting of settlements. 

Life was hard for those who went first, whether miners 
or settlers, but the memory of gold in California and the 
reports of rich deposits in the new fields lured them on. 

Many small bands of men went on foot into the moun- 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 


361 


tain valleys, where they built frail huts and rough camps 
along the rivulets running down the mountainsides. From 
early morning till nightfall they toiled, eating and sleeping 
within reach of prowling bears and wolves. They suffered, 
too, from savage attacks of Indians and from threatened 



Prospectors on Their Way West. 


famine. Yet camps grew up rapidly and then as rapidly 
disappeared. For, although some met with success, by far 
the greater number, after weeks and even months of fruit¬ 
less labor, gave up in sadness and disappointment. 

Few of these bold prospectors are known to history, for 
they only blazed the way where countless numbers of home¬ 
makers followed; but we may well remember them for their 
patience and courage. 

As early as the fifties adventurous pioneers were push¬ 
ing into the mountains, all the way from Washington on 










362 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


the north to New Mexico and Arizona on the south. At 
Pike’s Peak gold was found in the fall of 1858, and before 
the summer of 1859 nearly 100,000 were on their way to 
the diggings. 

NEW CAMPS GROW UP LIKE MUSHROOMS 

A far greater boom came when a rich vein of silver was 
found at Gold Hill, in what is now Nevada. It was in the 
Sierra Nevada range and was called the Comstock Lode. 
From all directions men swarmed in thousands by stage 
and on foot to the new diggings. Clarence King stopped 
here on his trail to California. 

For fifteen years after the discovery of gold in California 
bands of hardy and fearless pioneers had continued to dis¬ 
cover new mines in hundreds of places throughout the Rocky 
Mountain region. When the new digging was successful, 
a mining-camp grew up near it. Generally this was only 
a single street along the bank of a winding stream, with 
irregular rows of one-story huts on either side. 

The saloon and the general store found a place in every 
camp, and often a dance-hall and a gambling-house. Deep 
ruts, cut by heavy wagons loaded with supplies for the 
miners, scarred the street, and usually at all the hitching- 
posts were horses whose owners had come from the near-by 
diggings to make purchases or for recreation. Here with 
his fellows the miner could forget for a while the tedium of 
his lonely and dreary life. 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 


363 


Sometimes the camp was located so far up the moun¬ 
tain that it could be reached only by a narrow trail. In 
that case the miner’s outfit and supplies had to be carried 
up by horses, mules, or little burros. It was fortunate for 
the small prospector, when obliged to live alone for weeks 



A Frontier Town Where the Miners Exchanged Their Products for Needed 

Supplies. 


at a time, that he found good fishing in the streams and 
good hunting in his wild surroundings. 

In regions where a very rich vein was struck, the camp 
would grow rapidly into a town or city, and become a trade 
centre where the miners exchanged the products of the mines 
for needed supplies. Among many cities which had their 
beginning in this way are Denver, Carson City, Boise, and 
Helena. 

While in the early sixties there were many mines scat¬ 
tered throughout the mountain region, there was not a per- 



















































364 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


manent population for there were no farms to raise food, 
the climate not being suited for agriculture. The rainfall was 
so slight that much of the land was half desert, and crops 
could be raised only by the aid of irrigation. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. How did the miners serve their country? 

2. Tell what you can about their hardships. 

3. Describe a mining-camp. 

4. Give names of cities that had their beginning as mining-camps. 


Ill 

PASSENGERS TRAVEL BY STAGE-COACH; MAIL GOES BY PONY 

EXPRESS TO THE FAR WEST 

In the days before the building of railroads, travel to 
the mining regions was slow and dangerous. Some emi¬ 
grants went by pack-trains; others in their own wagons, 
drawn by mules or oxen; but far the larger number went by 
stage over a regular route and paid for their passage just 
as we would do by rail to-day. 

The stage-coach of the late fifties and sixties accom¬ 
modated from nine to fourteen passengers inside, and one 
or two with the driver high up in front. Under the driver’s 
seat were tucked numerous packages, and in a triangular 
“boot” behind were stowed the mail and the boxes and 
other baggage of passengers. Sometimes the overflow was 
crowded inside the coach, making the seats more uncom¬ 
fortable for long stretches of travel. An adjustable cur- 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 


365 


tain kept out some of the cold and the rain. Drawn by 
four galloping mules and glistening with its bright-red 
paint, the stage made a cheerful sight; but on one occasion 
at least the color proved too attractive, for the stage was 



From a drawing by IVill James. 

A Stage-Coach. 


overturned by a herd of angry buffaloes, and the passengers 
spilled by the roadside. Horace Greeley was among them. 

On the route at long intervals were stations. Some 
were called “home stations/’ because a family lived there 
and served meals while the stage stopped for ten minutes. 
Perhaps that was long enough, for the bacon and potatoes, 
coffee and bread were none too good. There were also 
11 swing stations,” with little more than a corral and a hay¬ 
stack, since the comfort of the mules and horses was even 
more important than the welfare of the passengers. 





366 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


Travel was continuous; twenty-four hours every day, 
except when the short stop was made for meals or for a 
change of mules. The route started at St. Louis ; followed 
the Oregon trail up the North Platte valley ; and then, 
branching off to the California trail near Great Salt Lake, 
ran to Sacramento. It took a stout heart to brave the 
journey of 1 ; 900 miles and the schedule time of twenty- 
three days. The expense, too, was considerable, the fare 
to Carson City, for instance, being $150. 

Freight-wagons were in use over all stage routes, to carry 
goods and supplies, but in time, as mining settlements in¬ 
creased, there was a demand for quicker communication 
between the East and the West. 

THE PONY EXPRESS BEGINS ITS PICTURESQUE CAREER 

To supply the demand for quicker mail service, the 
Pony Express was started. It began its brief, picturesque 
career in April, 1860, and while it lasted gave excellent ser¬ 
vice. The route started at St. Joseph, Missouri, and, pass¬ 
ing through Salt Lake City and Carson City, followed the 
stage route to Sacramento. 

There were in all 200 stations, from nine to fifteen miles 
apart, where riders, fleet horses, and tenders were grouped. 
The distance covered was not far from 2,000 miles. The 
“beat” of each horseman was about fifty miles, but he 
changed his horse at every station. Eighty pony riders, 
therefore, were required, forty going east and forty west. 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 


367 


They were small men, weighing 135 pounds or even 
less; often they were boys of fourteen. The letters were 
written on tissue-paper, to save weight and bulk, and 
were carried in a flat pouch. The charge for each was five 
dollars. 

These pony riders had to be fearless and strong, ready 
by night or by day, no matter how cold or stormy the 
weather, to leap into the 
saddle and dash for¬ 
ward. Sometimes they 
sped over the level 
plains; sometimes along 
a narrow, zigzag trail 
over steep and treach¬ 
erous mountains. Often The Pony Express. 

hostile Indians beset 

their path, but the steadfast pony rider did not falter. 
Faithful to duty and heedless of personal safety, he rushed 
his horse forward like the wind. 

The schedule time for carrying a letter over the entire 
route was ten days, though this was cut to some hours less 
than eight days. The distance covered each day of twenty- 
four hours was not far from 250 miles, about twice the dis¬ 
tance that the stage-coach travelled. 

After eighteen months of continuous service the pony 
express gave place to the overland telegraph, which was 
established in 1861. 



368 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


“BUFFALO BILL/’ BOY RIDER FOR THE PONY EXPRESS, 
BECOMES THE MOST FAMOUS OF WESTERN SCOUTS 

The most famous of all the pony riders was William F. 
Cody, who, in later life, became known as “Buffalo Bill.” 
Perhaps most American boys have thought of him as a 
swaggering, mounted cowboy of circus side-show fame, or 
at best as the hero of a dime novel walking out of its pages 
alive. We should, however, think of him as one of our 
highest types of Western plainsmen. 

When we become acquainted with the facts of his life, 
w r e learn that he was the last person in the world to see any 
romance in his own career. For many years, beginning 
with his boyhood days, he was just a plain, anxious worker. 
During all this time he was doing so many hard, dangerous, 
and mostly ill-paid jobs, and was thinking so much of the 
people he was trying to help, that he had no time to play 
the stage-hero, and no desire to display himself. As a boy 
he was grave, patient, loyal, and unselfish in duty; as a man 
he was so soft-hearted that he could not shoot a deer that 
looked him hi the eye. 

He was born in Iowa in the year the Mexican War began 
(1846), and when he was seven his father started for the 
gold-fields of California. The family got no farther than 
Kansas; and here, a few years later, the father died. 

At the tender age of eleven, William, already skilful in 
shooting, riding, and herding cattle, took a job on a train 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 


369 


of freight-wagons going west. It is very interesting to note, 
as a sidelight on his character, that, of his own motion, he 
signed a pledge to his employer not to swear or quarrel. 

After five years of freighting and trapping, and some ex¬ 
citing adventures with the In¬ 
dians, he caught the gold fever 
and started for the diggings. On 
his way he met with an agent of 
his old employers, who were start¬ 
ing the pony-express line of which 
we have just read. As the boy 
of fourteen had made such an 
enviable record in what he had 
already done, he was given a rider- 
ship at what was then thought to 
be good pay. 

William Cody knew the job 
called for the vigor, endurance, 
and hardihood of a full-grown man, and that his life would 
be in constant danger. For, as the riders carried valu¬ 
able money packages, Indians and white outlaws alike at 
times made a business of ambushing lonely and wild places 
along the route. They left only dead men behind them. 

On one of his runs a highwayman “got the drop ” on him 
and began to untie the saddle-bags; but Cody dug his heels 
into his horse, which reared and kicked the robber in the head. 
Then he tied his man and took him to the end of the run. 




370 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


When he was fifteen the Civil War broke out, and he 
wanted to enlist; but his mother exacted a promise that he 
would not do this during her life. So he again joined the 
pony express and made a wonderful and startling record. 
He rode 85 miles for a mortally wounded rider in addition 
to his own beat, making a continuous ride of 322 miles in 
twenty-two hours. This was the longest ride ever made on 
the pony express. 

In November, 1863, he enlisted as a private in the Union 
army. Serving at one time as a spy and at another as a 
scout, he had many narrow escapes from death, and was 
commended for “ conspicuous bravery and valuable service 
upon the field/ ’ 

BUFFALO BILL RETURNS TO THE PLAINS 

After the war he returned to the plains again, this time 
driving stages over a dangerous route. Again Indians and 
desperate white outlaws gave him almost his last shrift, 
but always by his wit and energy he escaped. 

He married in 1866 at the age of twenty, and after 
some unsuccessful business ventures on his own account, 
he took up scouting under Custer and became his trusted 
friend. Scouting was much more than watching for In¬ 
dians; it was often finding them when it was too late to 
retreat, and risking a horrible death; it was also helping 
to reclaim stolen horses and rounding them up for cap¬ 
ture. 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 


371 



Later Cody went to work for the Kansas Pacific Rail¬ 
road, agreeing to supply buffalo meat, a dozen buffaloes a 
day, at $500 a month. This was the first realty good pay 
he had ever had. He 


soon established a name 
as the most skilful hunt¬ 
er in that part of the 
country, riding bare- 
back and killing his ani¬ 
mal as the horse ranged 
alongside. Thus he ac¬ 
quired his nickname of 
“Buffalo Bill.” 

While Cody was ac¬ 
tive on the plains 
Sheridan was com¬ 
mander of the United 
States troops in the De¬ 
partment of the Mis¬ 
souri, and he appointed 

Cody chief of scouts for the Fifth Cavalry. A year later 
Cody was appointed chief of all scouts in the Department 
of the Platte, with the rank of colonel. Withou this being 
aware of it, Colonel Cody— a Buffalo Bill”—had come to 
be a national hero. 

One day he was asked to act in a play to be written 
around him as the star. At first he would not hear of it; 


Buffalo Bill in His Wild West Show in 
Later Days. 







372 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


but, flattered and coaxed, he finally yielded. Even in con¬ 
senting, his two leading ideas were to build up a comfort¬ 
able home at last for his beloved family, and to make a col¬ 
lection of genuine scenes showing the traits of the West. 

How the Wild West show was set going and made him 
rich and world-famous is no part of our story. Our only 
wish is to show how this sincere, modest, hard-working, 
dutiful frontiersman grew to be one of the most celebrated 
men of his time; by what services and experiences he was 
moulded; and how well he deserved his fame. It is not the 
least of America’s merits that she can produce and develop 
such manly and generous characters, who are just as truly 
knights as any Bayard of the days of chivalry. No more 
vivid figure than “Buffalo Bill” can be found among our 
pathfinders to the West. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Imagine yourself a traveller on the stage-coach and tell about your 

experience on the route from St. Louis to Sacramento. How long 
did it take to make the journey? 

2. What advantages did the pony express have over the stage-coach? 

3. What dangers and hardships did the riders have to meet? 

4. In what ways did the life of the plainsman resemble that of the back¬ 

woodsman of Kentucky and Tennessee? In what ways was the 
plainsman's life very different? 

5. How did “Buffalo Bill” become famous, and how do you estimate his 

work ? 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 


37a 


IV 

BUILDERS OF THE PACIFIC RAILROADS DARE MUCH TO 

REALIZE A GREAT DREAM 

A step connecting the East with the Far West was 
taken by Congress in 1862 when it authorized the building 
of a Pacific railroad. It was to begin at Omaha, Nebraska, 
and extend to San Francisco, on the Pacific coast. 

Two companies took up the enterprise. In 1863 the 
Central Pacific Company, of California, began building at 
the western end, and two years later the Union Pacific 
started to build from the east. 

The progress of the Central Pacific for a time was slow,, 
during the first three years advancing eastward only twenty 
miles a year. There were several reasons for this. It was 
not easy to get iron rails, which had to be brought by way 
of Panama or Cape Horn; much of the western end of the 
line passed over mountains, adding to the difficulty of build¬ 
ing; and as California was a new country there was a scar¬ 
city of labor. Not until 1865, when Chinese coolies were 
imported, was the work of building speeded up. 

Soon after the construction of the Union Pacific was 
begun the railroad from the East reached Council Bluffs, 
and all the building material, including iron, stone, and 
wood, was brought by rail. The actual work of build¬ 
ing was easy, too, for since the route largely followed the 


374 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


Oregon trail across the level country of the Great Plains, 
little had to be done to make the road-bed ready for the 
rails. 

Most of the workers were newly arrived Irish immigrants 
and veterans of the Civil War. The soldiers were most 
useful, for much of the route passed through wild country 
where there were hostile Indians, and sometimes it was 
necessary to beat off surprise attacks. 

The builders had to solve one hard problem which at 
first we might not think of, and that was the handling, 
housing, and feeding of thousands of workmen, for there 
were no large settlements on the route where supplies could 
be bought. But as fast as the road was built, it was put 
into use up to the point reached in construction, and every 
few weeks at the end of the line a mushroom town for 
housing and feeding the working men was set up. A long 
train of freight-cars would bring frame houses, tents, and 
furniture, and then in a few hours the new living centre 
would be ready for use. 

Both the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific received 
from the United States Government thousands of acres of 
public land for every mile along the route, besides the 
loan of many million dollars in the form of government 
bonds. 

During the last sixteen months the two companies worked 
with all possible speed, the average length of track laid by 
both being two and one-half miles for every working day. 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 



o ^7 r 

. 3/0 


The two groups of builders met near Ogden, Utah ; on May 
9, 1869, where the roads were joined together with appro¬ 
priate ceremonies on the following day. 

On May 10 the last two rails were fastened by a spike of 
gold driven into a tie of California laurel. The event 
was a national one. 

It was celebrated in 
many cities and 
towns throughout 
the country. In 
Chicago there was a 
procession seven 
miles in length; in 
New York 100 guns 
were fired and a 
thanksgiving service 
was held in Trinity 
Church; in Phila¬ 
delphia the Old Lib¬ 


Driving the Last Spike of the Union Pacific—Prom¬ 
ontory Point, Utah, May 10, 1869. 


erty Bell rang out 
the glad news to the 
people; and in Buffalo many enthusiastic voices joined 
in singing ‘‘The Star-Spangled Banner.” 

The East was joined to the West with bands never to 
be broken, and the journey from the Mississippi to the 
Pacific coast, which had taken twenty-two or twenty-three 
days to make by stage-coach, could now be made in a 




376 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


few days by easy and comfortable travel. The transcon¬ 
tinental railroad marked the beginning of a new era in the 
life of the nation. 

JAMES J. HILL, BUILDER OF THE GREAT NORTHERN RAIL¬ 
WAY, IS A MAN OF KEEN VISION AND HIGH IDEALS 

Within fifteen years other trans-Mississippi railroads 
were built, including the Southern Pacific and the Northern 
Pacific, the latter being completed in 1883. Ten years 
later still another was finished by a man who takes high 
rank among our American leaders. This was James J. 
Hill, who built the Great Northern. It is well worth while 
for you to make his acquaintance. 

He was born on a farm in western Ontario in 1838. 
As a boy he went to a country school, but was so eager to 
learn that he read and studied at home, just as Lincoln 
did, such books as the Bible, Shakespeare, Burns, and a dic¬ 
tionary. Later he went to a good academy and had for a 
teacher a large-minded Quaker, who not only inspired him 
with noble ideals but gave him a love of great literature, 
which he never lost. Throughout his life books were his 
constant friends. 

When a boy of eighteen he had such a strong desire to 
see the Far East that he started to work his way there. 
Running short of funds, he took a place for a few months 
as shipping-clerk for a down-river steamer line at St. Paul, 
then a small frontier town. This was no mere office job. 


THE OPENING OF THE GREAT WEST 


377 


He had to oversee all outgoing and incoming freight; and 
often to handle it in person. He had to push hard for 
new business as well as learn and manage all parts of a 
varied commerce. 

Both his heart and his brain went into the work; and 
for nine years he made no outward change in his life, but 
his experience was making him one 
of the most thorough masters of all 
time of frontier trade and transpor¬ 
tation. 

In 1865; when he was twenty- 
seven; he went into business for 
himself; as forwarder and general 
contractor; and soon became chief 
agent for all the best packet lines. 

In 1878; in company with three 
other men; he got control of the St. Paul and Pacific Rail¬ 
road; then running not far to the west from the Mississippi. 
Through his enterprise it was extended; and the new line, 
connecting St. Paul and Lake Superior with Seattle and 
the Pacific coast; was called the Great Northern. It was 
completed in 1893. Then branch roads were built to the 
north and the south at various points along the main 
route; and a steamship-line was established to China and 
Japan. 

The Great Northern led to the rapid settlement of Min¬ 
nesota and the Dakotas; it also greatly aided the building 








378 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


up of Oregon and Washington as well as the entire Pacific 
slope. 

No one could have foretold when the first Pacific rail¬ 
road was authorized by Congress in 1862 that before the 
close of the century one of our great masters of industry 
would link our transportation system with the fabled cities 
of the Far East. Here was the completion of that great 
trade route to the Indies which has never ceased to engage 
the imagination of men. 

Hill contributed much to the settlement of the North¬ 
west, not only by his railroads but also as a pioneer in en¬ 
couraging better farming, better breeds of stock, and better 
seeds. He established model farms, for by that time it had 
been found that the wealth of the great Northwest was not 
so much in its mines as in its fertile soil. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Between what two cities did the first Pacific railroad extend? What 

part was built by the Central Pacific Company and what part 
by the Union Pacific Company? 

2. What advantages did the Pacific railroads have over the stage-coach 

and the pony express ? 

3. How did the work of James J. Hill help the people of the Northwest? 

4. Why has he been called an “Empire Builder”? 

5. Indicate on the map the location of the railroads to the Pacific coast. 

6. What did the building of these roads mean to the United States? 


CHAPTER XXVI 


LEADERS AND WORKERS IN THE GREAT WEST 

I 

THE COWBOY IS THE PICTURESQUE FIGURE AMONG THE 
SHEEP AND CATTLE RANCHERS 

Some years before the railroad brought the full tide of 
migration to the West, the plains supported roving millions 
of cattle and sheep. Those were the days of the dashing 
cowboys, with their broad-brimmed hats, and bright-colored 
handkerchiefs tied loosety about the neck. Many of the 
cowboys and the ranchmen were men who had first tried 

% 

their luck at gold-digging without success. Later other 
men joined them from the East, attracted by the wild, free 
life of the plains. 

As you will learn in your study of geography, a wide 
belt, stretching westward from about the one hundredth 
meridian to the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, is arid 
land—that is, the rainfall is very light. It includes parts 
of Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, 
Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. 

Although these dry plains will not produce corn or 

wheat without irrigation, they have a sufficient growth of 

379 


380 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


grass to feed millions of cattle and sheep. At first the 
ranchman lived on a small ranch, sometimes only forty 
acres in area, while his herds grazed on enormous stretches 
of public land with the herds of other ranchmen. 

Every year when spring came one of the duties of the 
cowboys was to round up the cattle by driving them to a 
central point where the calves were branded, for each 
owner knew his herds by a special brand. 

Between 1885 and 1890 a great change came in the cattle 
industry, caused by a boom in Western land. Many men 
in the East and the Middle West applied to the government 
for 160-acre farms, in accordance with an act passed by 
Congress some years before; and thousands determined to 
“go West,” hoping to better their conditions of living. 

Some of the farms were on land that could be irrigated. 
But even the land that could not be irrigated would pro¬ 
duce alfalfa and Kaffir-corn, which needed less moisture than 
wheat or corn. It would also produce the usual crops by 
improved methods of cultivation. 

The free public land disappeared. The ranchman now 
had to own or lease the land upon which his cattle grazed, 
and the free public range gave place to the individual 
owner’s ranch. 

On a well-equipped modern ranch to-day stands the 
home of the owner, which has all modern improvements. It 
is usually built on the banks of a stream or in a grove of trees, 
with barns, sheds, and corral near by. In summer the cattle 


WORKERS IN THE GREAT WEST 


381 


graze in fields, which are enclosed by a barbed-wire fence, 
while the owner with his helpers cultivates crops of hay, 
alfalfa, and possibly wheat or corn on other parts of the ranch. 
A good ranch equipment must include harvesting- 



Froni a drawing by Will James. 


The Picturesque Cowboy No Longer Finds a Place in the Ranch Life of the Plains. 


machines, work-horses, and saddle-horses, and also automo¬ 
biles for service and for pleasure. 

It is evident that the round-up of earlier days, when 
the herds grazed in common on the public land, is no 
longer necessary; and railroads are so numerous that the 
drive of perhaps 300 or 400 miles to the shipping-station 
is now unknown. It is evident also that the picturesque 
cowboy no longer finds a place in the ranch life of the 
plains. His every-day work is that of a farmer. 

But while the cowboy has disappeared, cattle-raising is 
still one of the great industries of the country. In 1922 
there were more than 67,000,000 cattle in the United 
States. 


382 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Can you explain why the dry plains were used by ranchmen to feed 

cattle and sheep instead of by farmers to raise grain? 

2. Why did the free public land disappear, and what effect did this have 

upon the work of the ranchnian? 

3. Tell all you can about a modern ranch and the work that is done there. 


II 

THE HOMESTEADER EXPANDS THE CORN BELT AND THE 

WHEAT REGION 

Up to the time of the Civil War, settlers upon the public 
domain had to pay the government for land. But in 1862 
Congress passed the Homestead Act. Under this law any 
citizen who was twenty-one years old or more, or any one 
of that age who had declared his intention of being made a 
citizen, could become the owner of 160 acres of land bv 
paying only a small entry fee, if he would agree to reside 
on the land for five years. 

This invitation to go out and settle the vast trans- 
Mississippi regions was eagerly accepted, and there fol¬ 
lowed a great tide of home-seekers from the East and the 
Middle West, as already mentioned, and also from Europe. 

Part of the throng went to what is now the corn belt 
of the trans-Mississippi region, including Iowa, Missouri, 
Arkansas, and parts of Kansas and Nebraska and other 
states, and the cultivation of corn rapidly increased, add- 


WORKERS IN THE GREAT WEST 


383 


ing much to the national wealth. Corn is now our largest 
crop; between two and a half and three billion bushels are 
produced each year. 

Others who went West settled in Minnesota, the Da¬ 
kotas, and those states which have since become the great 



A Combined Harvester and Thresher. 


wheat-producing region of the country. In Minnesota, 
the largest wheat-producing state of our day, the big 
“bonanza” farms range in size from 2,000 to 10,000 acres. 
Some are so large that one cannot look entirely across them 
—so large indeed that laborers working on opposite sides do 
not see one another for months at a time. 

For the harvesting of wheat a great deal of new ma¬ 
chinery is purchased every year. One of the huge machines 
can cut and stack in one day the grain from a hundred 
acres. 

After the wheat is threshed it may be taken in railroad- 





384 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


cars to such cities as Duluth, St. Paul, Minneapolis, or 
Chicago, and stored in great buildings known as grain- 



A Grain-Elevator. 


elevators. Some elevators can store as much as a million 
or more bushels each. In 1922 this country produced 
818,000,000 bushels of wheat. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Why did the Homestead Act lead to the expansion of the corn belt 

and the wheat region? 

2. Why are the wheat-crop and the corn-crop important? 

3. Point out on the map the states of the corn belt; also those of the 

wheat-growing regions. 

























WORKERS IN THE GREAT WEST 


385 


III 

JOHN WESLEY POWELL ENCOURAGES IRRIGATION IN THE 

FAR WEST 

If you had gone to school in any year between 1850 and 
I860, you would have been told that the land stretching 
west from the great bend of the Missouri River to the 
Rocky Mountains and farther westward to the Sierra 
Nevada Mountains was called the “ Great American 
Desert/’ for this vast area was thought to be too arid 
to support a farming population. Now we know that it 
was so only in name. People believed it to exist because 
they did not know the facts. 

For our first true knowledge of the region we are in¬ 
debted to John Wesley Powell, who was a soldier as well 
as a man of science. He had been an enthusiastic explorer 
of the West, and succeeded Clarence King as director of 
the United States Geological Survey. In his report of 1879 
he recorded facts of wonderful value. He had learned from 
his own observation that there were vast plains and valleys 
in the Rockies, covered with cactus and sage-brush, that 
needed only water to make them richly productive. He 
represented that, if these countless acres of arid lands were 
irrigated freely, they would be fertile and thus provide 
prosperous homes for millions of American citizens. 

Enterprising men took up the suggestion and began to 


386 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


develop irrigation projects. There were different ways of 
irrigating. Sometimes water would be diverted from rivers 
and made to run in canals and ditches through the fields 

of fruit-trees or growing 
crops. In other cases 
reservoirs might be built 
to hold back the water 
that came from melting 
snows on the tops and 
sides of the mountains. 
By means of flumes ; 
canals, and ditches the 
water could be distrib¬ 
uted to land at great 
distances. Thus what 
was once a wild waste 
could be made to bear 

(g) Ewing Galloway. 

Cactus in the Arizona Desert, Now a Fertile abundant harvests. 

Country Through Irrigation. 

In order to stimulate 
the development of irrigation projects the Carey Act was 
passed in 1894. In this act Congress offered any state in 
the arid region 1,000,000 acres of public land if it would 
reclaim and settle it. Some states accepted the offer and 
gave private companies the rights to irrigate the land and 
sell it to settlers. 

But the task was too large for either private or state 
enterprise, and in 1902 Congress passed the Reclamation 











WORKERS IN THE GREAT WEST 


387 


Act. It provided that 95 per cent of all the money received 
from the sale of public lands should be used in developing 
new irrigation projects in various parts of the arid region. 



Roosevelt Dam, Salt River Valley, Arizona. 


These projects now include the Roosevelt Dam, on the Salt 
River, in Arizona; the Arrow Rock Dam and Twin Falls 
Project, in Idaho; the Huntley, Milk River, and Sun River 
projects, in Montana; the Shoshone Dam, in Wyoming; and 
the Gunnison Project, in Colorado. 

Over thirteen million acres of land have in this way 
been made highly productive. To-day thousands of pros¬ 
perous farming communities and hundreds of beautiful 
















388 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


villages and towns exist, where twenty-five years ago only 
sage-brush and the cactus-plant were growing. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. What were the eastern and the western boundaries of this immense 

area of land which was for a long time called “The American 
Desert”? 

2. Who was John Wesley Powell, and what important facts did he bring 

to light? 

3. What is irrigation? Explain the ways in which dry land is irrigated. 

4. What was the Carey Act? Name and locate some important irri¬ 

gation projects. 

5. What good results have come from irrigating the dry land of the 

West? 


IV 

THE WARLIKE INDIAN DISAPPEARS FROM THE WESTERN 
PLAINS; ALSO MILLIONS OF BUFFALOES 

The great tides of population that followed the devel¬ 
opment of the railroad and the irrigation of arid lands 
completely changed the order of life on the Great Plains. 
They put an end to the roving bands of warlike Indians 
and completely swept away the immense herds of buffaloes. 

By 1820 the westward movement, as we have seen, 
had reached the meridian passing through the great bend 
in the Missouri River. For the next thirty years no further 
advance was made toward the Pacific except in the centres 
of population that had grown up in California and Oregon. 

One reason why settlers did not venture farther west 
was the fear of the American Desert, of which we have just 


WORKERS IN THE GREAT WEST 


389 


spoken. Another was the fear of the Indians, who made 
travel so dangerous along any of the well-worn trails. 

The Indians, in turn, feared that the white men would 
deprive them of their hunting-grounds, for every time 
prospectors discovered new 
mines of gold or silver a 
rush of people followed, 
putting a check on the wild, 
free life of the plains. This 
became a fruitful cause of 
war in the later period of 
Western settlement, just as 
it had always been when¬ 
ever a new frontier was 
passed. There were several 
of these conflicts. 

An unhappy instance 
followed the discovery of 
gold in the Black Hills of North Dakota in 1876. These 
gold-fields were in a reservation which the United States 
Government had set a part for the use of the powerful Sioux 
Indians, and when the gold prospectors, allowing no barrier 
to hold them back, began to dig for gold in land which these 
Indians looked upon as their own, they prepared to defend 
their ground. 

The war that followed cost the lives of many white men. 
One of the most disastrous engagements was the massacre 



An Indian Frontier Trading-Post. 





390 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


of 260 troopers under the brave and dashing General Custer. 
Surrounded by ten or twelve times their own number, they 
made a stout resistance, but all were killed, including 
Custer. The only one to escape was a half-breed Crow scout. 

This was the 
last important In¬ 
dian war. The red 
men had fought 
hard and bravely 
in defense of their 
hunting - grounds, 
but their power 
had been much 
weakened when 
the great herds 
of buffaloes disap- 

Indian Hunting Buffalo. 

peared. For the 

buffaloes supplied food and clothing, and also hides for the 
Indian’s lodge, harness for his horse and his dog, and sin¬ 
ews for his bowstrings. 

When the early settlements were made in Virginia and 
the other English colonies, buffaloes in countless numbers 
roamed over almost all of what is now the United States. 
By 1830 they had been driven westward beyond the Missis¬ 
sippi. Even as late as 1870 there were many millions of 
them on the Great Plains. In 1868 General Sheridan and 
his escort spent three days in riding through a great herd 




WORKERS IN THE GREAT WEST 


391 


of the big, shaggy beasts, and in the following years a 
Kansas-Pacific train ran for 120 miles through an almost 
unbroken stretch of them. 

The Indians killed hundreds of thousands of these 
animals every year, and hunters and trappers killed many 
more. After the building of the Pacific railroad it was 
much easier for the white man to reach the buffalo country, 
and many Eastern hide-hunters slaughtered them in great 
numbers, taking the hides back home to be made into 
“buffalo robes.” It is said that in three years—1872, 1873, 
1874—3,000,000 were slaughtered for this purpose, and 
that during this time the number killed was probably 
5,000,000. By 1878 only a few scattered herds remained 
anywhere in the country. 

The passing of the buffalo along with the passing of the 
Indian left the white man in control of the vast trans- 
Mississippi region. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. For thirty years after 1820 the westward movement halted. Why? 

2. Explain a fruitful cause of war with the Indians in the later period 

of Western settlement. Tell all you can about the massacre of 
General Custer and his men. 

3. In what ways were the buffaloes destroyed and what effect did their 

destruction have upon the life of the Indians on the Western 
plains ? 

4. Do you think the Indians have been treated fairly by the white men? 


CHAPTER XXVII 


TWO LEADERS IN THE POLITICAL LIFE OF THE 
NATION AT THE CLOSE OF THE CENTURY 

I 

GROVER CLEVELAND AS A POLITICAL LEADER IS A MAN OF 

COURAGE 

Returning now from the Great Plains and mountain 
regions of the Far West, we will follow the story of those 
great American leaders whose lives must help us all to be 
more loyal to our country and more earnest in giving it 
our best service. One of these men is Grover Cleveland. 

He was born at Caldwell, New Jersey, March 18, 1837, 
the son of a Presbyterian minister. When a boy he showed 
unusual qualities of mind and heart, and his father wished 
to send him to college. But the father died when Grover 
was fourteen, and he took a job in a grocery-store to help 
his widowed mother. 

Instead of feeling sorry for himself, this lad made the 
experience a means of growth. In later manhood he said 
it taught him how to deal with men, to appreciate their 
points of view and their motives, and to adapt his own 
actions to them. While selling goods in the grocery-store 
he was learning how to play a game that was far more diffi- 

392 


TWO POLITICAL LEADERS 


393 


cult and important than baseball or football, and that was 
the game of life. 

Perhaps, also, helping to support his widowed mother and 
their large family made Grover stronger in purpose and in 

character. To those who knew 
him he certainly seemed much 
older than his age. We learn, too, 
that, while alwa}^s faithful to his 
daily tasks, he was an earnest 
reader. He liked histoiy better 
than anything else, although he 
enjoyed Byron and Moore, and 
could repeat from memory thou¬ 
sands of lines of their poetry. 

When he was eighteen his uncle 
persuaded him to take a place as 
clerk in a law office in Buffalo, and 
after four years’ practice as a lawyer he began his public 
career as assistant district attorney. In 1870 he was elected 
sheriff of the county, and in 1881 mayor of Buffalo. 

As mayor he was so fearless and energetic in perform¬ 
ing his public duties that his rise in public favor was rapid; 
he was elected governor of the State of New York in 1882, 
and President of the United States in 1884. 

When he entered the White House, in 1885, wishing to 
leave no doubt in the public mind of his serious purpose 
to serve the interests of the people, he said: “Public office 














394 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


is a public trust,” and he held to this motto throughout his 
notable public career. 

He was President for two terms, the first being 1885- 
1889, and the second 1893-1897. During both of his ad¬ 
ministrations he had to meet important problems, which we 
need not discuss now; you will learn about them later. They 
included the tariff, money questions, and labor problems. 

President Cleveland believed that a high protective 
tariff was not a good thing for the country, and declared 
himself in favor of a low tariff. He also advocated the 
single, or “gold,” standard as a basis of value for money. 

He was slow in forming a judgment on any of these 
questions, but when he had decided what course of action 
he should follow as a servant of the people, he was fearless 
in pursuing it, whatever the effect might be upon his own 
political future. 

His courage met with a severe test in the case of the 
Chicago railway strike, in 1894. This began in the works 
of the Pullman Car Company, when the wages of the 
workers were reduced. The strike spread so widely that 
the railroads were “tied up” all over the country. Much 
property was wrecked or burned; many men were killed or 
injured. The trouble centred in Chicago, where there were 
destructive riots. 

When this strike began seriously to hinder the United 
States mails, it became national in interest, and the Presi¬ 
dent believed it his duty to interfere. He said: “If it takes 


TWO POLITICAL LEADERS 


395 


every dollar in the Treasury and every soldier in the United 
States army to deliver a postal card in Chicago, that postal 
card shall be delivered.” Soldiers were sent to Chicago to 

protect the mails and to stop the rioting and disorder, and 
the strike was broken. 

Upon leaving the White House, Cleveland became trus- 





Cars Were Burned and Destroyed During the Chicago Railway Strike. 


tee and lecturer for Princeton University, making his home 
in Princeton, New Jersey. He took an active interest in 
the student body, often giving money to help students 
who were working their way through college. 

He was fond of little children and of young people of all 
ages. Sometimes he would give a whole day to mending 
the toys of his small friends. 

He was earnest in whatever he undertook, even in his 












396 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


recreation. As a fisherman he would sit for hours in his 
skiff, forgetful of heat or cold or rain, waiting for a bite. 
He was simply putting into practice a motto which was his 
constant guide: “Whatever is worth doing at all is worth 
doing well.” 

When nearing the end of his life, he said: “I have tried 
so hard to do right.” Guided by that steady purpose he 
left a worthy example for young Americans to study. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell what you can about the boyhood of Grover Cleveland. How 

did he learn to play the game of life? 

2. Why was he able to rise so rapidly in public favor? 

3. What was his motto when he was President? What did he mean 

by it? 

4. How did he show his courage at the time of the railway strike in 1894? 


II 

william mckinley helps the Cubans to gain their 

FREEDOM 

Following Cleveland’s second term as President of the 
United States, William McKinley came into office. The 
most important event of his administration was the war 
with Spain. He faced the national situation with firmness, 
although without question he was a man of peace. 

He was born at Niles, Ohio, in 1843, the seventh of 
nine children. His father was an ironmaster, and early 


TWO POLITICAL LEADERS 


397 


in life William became interested in the ores of his state 
and in its manufactures. What he learned led to his mak¬ 
ing a special study later of the tariff problem. 

At seventeen he went to college, but before the end of 
his first year he returned home on account of poor health, 
and then took up teaching in a near-by town. 

Almost immediately the Civil War began, and he was 
one of the first boys of his town to enlist for three years in 
the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers. Although so young and 
in poor health, from his very first engagement he commanded 
the attention and the respect of his officers. By the end 
of the war he had been promoted to the rank of major. 
That was an unusual record for a young man of twenty- 
two. 

After the war he studied law, and a year later was ad¬ 
mitted to the bar, settling in Canton, Ohio. In 1876 he 
was elected to Congress by the Republican party and 
served continuously for fourteen years. As leader of his 
party on the tariff question, he was appointed chairman of 
the committee which drafted the McKinley Tariff Bill. 
This was a highly protective measure and was passed by 
Congress. 

After serving two terms as governor of Ohio, in 1897 
he became President of the United States. In fulfilling the 
duties of his high office, he was honest and fearless; and 
this was especially true in the war with Spain, which be¬ 
gan during the second year of his administration. 


398 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


THE CUBANS RISE AGAINST SPAIN 


■! A\f 


The trouble with Spain grew out of her treatment of the 
people in Cuba. From the time of Columbus she had 
/ , N mled the natives 

(*%/ / ^ c \ \\ 

l /V;; ■ cruelly, and many 

times they had 
risen in rebellion. 
In 1895 there was 
an uprising that 
Spain could not 
put down. She 
sent over a gov¬ 
ernor-general who 
tried to starve the 
Cubans into sub¬ 
mission. He burn¬ 
ed the homes of 
the farmers who 
supplied food to 
the Cuban army, and droye them into towns and cities. 
By such inhuman treatment he not only weakened the 
army but put great suffering upon civilians, who had no 
way of getting food. Thousands died, yet the Cubans 
would not yield. Their cry was: “We will win our freedom 
or die!” 

This cruel warfare, going on so close to our shores, 



I *T 

President McKinley at Quincy, Ill. 

“ Whenever the Flag is assailed, the only terms we ever 
make with its assailant is unconditional surrender.” 



























TWO POLITICAL LEADERS 


399 


aroused our people, and as the war grew even more brutal, 
our government tried to induce Spain to bring it to an end. 
Before anything could be arranged, however, an American 
war-ship, the Maine, was blown up in the harbor of Havana, 
and 260 of our officers and seamen were killed. This hap¬ 
pened on the night of February 15, 1898. 

Many believed that it was the work of Spanish officials. 
The report of a naval court of inquiiy after careful investi¬ 
gation showed that the ship was blown up by an explosion 
from the outside, but did not fix the blame. Americans 
were bitter in their resentment toward Spain. Feeling ran 
high. President McKinley did all he could to keep peace, 
but on April 25, 1898, war was formally declared by Con¬ 
gress. 

COMMODORE DEWEY WINS A BRILLIANT VICTORY OVER THE 

SPANISH FLEET AT MANILA BAY 

Two days later, an American fleet of six war-vessels, 
under Commodore Dewey, steamed from a Chinese port 
southward toward the Philippine Islands, then a Spanish 
possession. In Manila Bay he totally destroyed the Span¬ 
ish fleet in an engagement which lasted but a few hours. 
Dewey’s war-vessels were not seriously injured, and no 
American sailor’s life was lost. 

The brilliant victory, largely due to the rapid handling 
of the guns and the accurate marksmanship of the American 
seamen, thrilled the country. Congress voted $10,000 for 


400 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


a sword to be presented to Commodore Dewey and medals 
to his men, and the President advanced Commodore Dewey 
to the rank of rear-admiral. 

CERVERA’s FLEET IS “BOTTLED UP” AT SANTIAGO AND 

DESTROYED 

After the Spanish fleet at Manila was destroyed, there 

was no longer danger 
of attack from Spanish 
war-vessels on our 
Pacific coast; but news 
came that the Spanish 
fleet under Cervera, 
which had been sta¬ 
tioned at the Cape 
V erde Islands, was 
sailing toward Cuba. 

Presently Admiral 
Cervera arrived at San¬ 
tiago, and an Ameri¬ 
can fleet under the 

President McKinley and Admiral Dewey Review¬ 
ing the Soldiers and Sailors from the Steps COinmaild of CoillIllO- 
of the Capitol. 

dore Schlev blockaded 
%/ 

the harbor to prevent his escape. Under the leadership of 
Richmond P. Hobson, a daring but unsuccessful attempt 
was promptly made to block the escape of the Spanish fleet 
by sinking a collier in the narrow channel leading to the 











TWO POLITICAL LEADERS 


401 


harbor. While our fleet kept close watch at the harbor 
entrance, an American army arrived at Santiago to attack 
the city. On the 1st of July the Americans made a gallant 
advance through tropical forests upon its outworks, and 
won a decisive victory. It was in this battle that the 

“ Rough Riders,” under 
Colonel Theodore Roose¬ 
velt, won distinction by 
great bravery. 

The Spanish fleet now 
made a dash for liberty. 
At about half past nine on 
Sunday morning (July 3) 
the foremost Spanish war- 
vessel was seen heading at 
full speed out of the liar- 

i ; 

bor. When the American 
sailors saw what was going 
on they sent up a loud 
shout: “The Spanish fleet is coming out!” Then leaping 
to their places at the guns, every man eager to do his turn, 
they waited with breathless interest the order to fire. Vic¬ 
tory was easy and complete, due to the superior seaman¬ 
ship of the Americans and their mastery of the guns. 
Every one of the Spanish war-vessels was destroyed, 600 
Spaniards were killed, and 1,800 were captured. Not one 
American ship was seriously injured, while but one Ameri- 





402 LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 

can sailor was killed. With nothing to hope for from tne 
fleet ; about the middle of July Santiago and the Spanish 
army surrendered to the American forces. 



Judge Day, Secretary of State, Signing the Peace Protocol Between the United 

States and Spain, August 12, 1898. 


AS A RESULT OF THE WAR CUBA IS LIBERATED AND THE 
UNITED STATES ACQUIRES NEW TERRITORY 

Spain accepted her defeat and was now willing to ar¬ 
range terms of peace. On February 6, 1899; a treaty was 
ratified by the United States Senate, in which Spain gave 
up all claim to Cuba, and ceded Porto Rico and Guam, a 
little island in the Ladrones, to the United States. She 









TWO POLITICAL LEADERS 403 

also ceded the Philippine Islands, in return for which we 
agreed to pay her 120,000,000. 



An American Public School for Native Children in a Rural District of the 

Pliillipine Islands. 

One of the most noteworthy results of the war was the 
drawing together of the various sections of our country into 
closer sympathy and union. Never before had the North, 
the South, the East, and the West felt so closely bound to¬ 
gether in thought, feeling, and purpose. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. What training did William McKinley have to fit him for the presi¬ 

dency ? 

2. Why did the Cubans rise against Spain? Why was it natural that 

our country should champion the cause of Cuban independence? 

3. Why did we go to war with Spain? 

4. Tell all you can about the two naval battles in which our boys destroyed 

two Spanish fleets. 

5. What were the most important results of the war? 








CHAPTER XXVIII 


LEADERS IN A NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE AND 

INVENTION 

I 

THOMAS A. EDISON IS ' THE WIZARD OF THE ELECTRICAL 

WORLD 

Many influences have been at work to put our nation 
in a position of power among the nations of the world. 
That position has come about not alone through great 
material wealth but through many scientific inventions. 

The age we live in is far different from that of our fore¬ 
fathers; and just as we revere their memory for winning our 
political freedom; so we must bow with respect to the great 
inventors of a later generation. They have freed us from 
the limitations of time and space ; and have made us realize 
that we are living in an age of marvellous scientific achieve¬ 
ment. 

Many inventions that have greatly increased men’s con¬ 
trol of time and space and multiplied the comforts of their 
daily living have been worked out through the application 
of electricity. In developing these inventions no one has 
done so much as Thomas A. Edison ; who has been called 
“the wizard” of the electrical world. 

He was born in Milan, Ohio, on February 11, 1847, his 

404 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 405 


father being a farmer and also a dealer in grain and lumber. 
After sending Thomas to school for a few months, his mother, 
who had been a teacher before her marriage, decided to 
keep him at home and teach him herself; and that is all the 
teaching he ever received. 

While he was yet a mere lad the family moved to Port 



Thomas Edison and His First Phonograph. 


Huron, and when he was twelve he became a newsboy on 
the train running from that town to Detroit. Having a 
quick mind, a ready wit, and a pleasant way of meeting 
people, his business grew, and he decided to enlarge it by 
publishing a paper. With a second-hand printing outfit 
in the end of a car intended for baggage, he set to work, 
and was so successful that his profits in a single year were 
about $600. 

But even then this restless youngster was not satisfied. 
He was interested in chemistry, and got permission to set 
























































406 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


up a laboratory in the same car in which he published his 
weekly paper. Here he had test-tubes, flasks, bottles, and 
various chemicals. But one day, when the car gave a lurch, 
a stick of phosphorus fell to the floor and broke into flames. 
This set the car on fire. The conductor was so angry 
that at the next station he threw out the whole outfit, 
laboratory and printing-press as well; and worse even 


than that, he boxed the 
boy’s ears so soundly that 
Edison became deaf. He 
never recovered his hear¬ 
ing. 



But another day 
brought better fortune. 
While the train was stop¬ 
ping at Mount Clemens, 


Edison’s Menlo Park Electric Locomo¬ 
tive, 1880 . 


the station-agent’s little boy, about two and one-half 
3 ^ears old, was playing with pebbles and sand between the 
railroad-tracks. The child was so busy that he did not 
see an uncoupled car which was rapidly approaching. In 
two or three seconds he would have been killed had not 
young Edison, then about fifteen years old, quickly dropped 
the papers under his arm and rushed to the rescue just in 
time. 

The station-agent felt so grateful that he offered to 
teach Edison how to operate the telegraph-keys, and also 
all that he himself knew about electricity. The offer was 



LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 407 


eagerly accepted by the ambitious boy, who not only wished 
to be a telegraph operator but to understand how messages 
went over the wire. 

By putting all his energy into the new task and working 
eighteen hours a 
day, within a year > 
he was able to se¬ 
cure a position as 
telegraph operator. 

This was in 1863, 
when Edison was 
only sixteen. 

But his restless 
desire to experiment 
and to explore un¬ 
known fields kept 
him wandering dur¬ 
ing the next five 
years. He sought 
one position after another till, after a year in Boston in 
1868, he arrived in New York. 

All the time this born inventor was working to improve 
the telegraph, and not long after reaching New York he 
was amazed by an offer from the Western Union Telegraph 
Company of $40,000 for one of his patents. With the 
money thus received he was able to experiment on a larger 
scale, and to build up a manufacturing company of his own. 



Copyrighted by Keystone View Co. 

Thomas Edison at Work in His Laboratory at 
Orange, N. J. 













408 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


- ■ V 


His two most important inventions were lighting by 
electricity and the electric railway. He was also the in¬ 
ventor of the phonograph and of motion-pictures. He has 
taken out more than 1,000 patents, more than any other 
inventor ever took out in this country. 

When Edison was once asked what advice he would offer 
to those who wished to enter the field of invention, he an¬ 
swered: “The best advice I can give to a man who wants 
to be a successful inventor is to work twenty hours a day. 
That I did for thirty years, and I cannot see that it hurts 
me” Once, when making right some defective stock- 
printers to fill an order by a fixed date, he scarcely stopped 
to eat for a period of sixty hours, and during that time he 
neither rested nor slept. His great industry, strong body, 
and determination, added to a powerful imagination and 
inventive genius, account for his success. He is regarded 
as the greatest inventor of all time. 

It would not be possible to measure the value of Edi¬ 
son’s work; he has done marvellous things in his long and 
useful life. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. How have inventors helped to make our age different from preceding 

ages? 

2. What kind of boy was Thomas A. Edison? 

3. Name some of his important inventions, and explain how they have 

affected our ways of living. 

4. Tell all you can about his working habits. According to his own 

words, what is the biggest factor toward success? 

5. Try to estimate the value of Edison’s inventions. 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 409 


II 

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL INVENTS THE TELEPHONE AND 
TAKES THE LEAD IN PERFECTING THE INVENTION 

Electricity has become a wonder-working agent in the 
service of mankind. It has been put to use in many waj r s 
and, as if by magic, has brought to pass things that would 
seem to be impossible. 

One of the most remarkable inventions is the telephone, 
by which the sound of the voice is transmitted over an 
electric wire. The man whom we should remember as 
having done most to make the telephone successful is Alex¬ 
ander Graham Bell. 

He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1847, and from 
childhood it was plain that nature had given him unusual 
gifts. He loved to study, and always wanted to know the 
“reason why” a thing was so. 

Even in his boyish pranks he was thoughtful. One day 
the local miller, around whose mill he played with other 
boys, lost patience and said to the boys: “Why don’t you 
think up something to help me instead of making trouble 
for me?” 

When they asked what they could do to help, he showed 
them a handful of wheat, and hinted that it would be a 
good thing for them to find out some way to remove the 
husks. 

Graham took some wheat home and found that with a 


410 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


nail-brush the husks came off easily. He told the miller 
about it and persuaded him to put brushes inside a revolving 
drum ; which was used for other purposes, and feed in the 
wheat. The husks came off; the invention was a success. 
At this time Graham was only twelve years old. 

It used to interest him to watch his father, a teacher of 
elocution, as he cured people of stammering. He thus be- 



Courtesy of American Telephotie & Telegraph Company, 

On June 2, 1875, Alexander Graham Bell and His Assistant, Thomas A. Watson, 
During Some Experiments, Discovered the Principle of the 
Electric Speaking Telephone. 

came familiar with the system of phonetics, or lip-reading, 
which his father invented and put into use, and he later 
taught the system in this country. 

By the time he was twenty he had studied thoroughly 
the mouths and vocal organs of his father’s pupils, and ex¬ 
perimented with amusing results on his dog, which he 
trained to speak. By pressing certain muscles of its jaw 
and lips he made the dog say “ma-ma,” “ga-ma-ma,” and 
finally “Ow ah oo, ga-ma-ma,” for “How are you, grand- 
mama?” Visitors came from far away to listen to the 
talking dog. 



















































































































































LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 411 



When Graham was twenty-three, the family moved to 
Canada, and very soon he was appointed a teacher of deaf- 
mutes in Boston 
University, where 
he remained four 
years. By habit he 
continued to study 
and experiment for 
better methods in 
his work with the 
human voice. 

Then one day a 

great thought came 

to him. Whv could 
%/ 

not sound vibrations 
just as well as light 
or heat vibrations be 
carried bv electric 
wires ? 

The idea was de¬ 
veloped in a novel way. The father of one of Bell’s pupils, 
who wished to assist him, made it possible for him to have 
a workshop in Salem, fifteen miles from Boston, where he 
carried on experiments at night for three years. 

Thrilled with the idea of breaking a new path in the 
realm of science, he used to call up his friend at any 
hour of the night to test his signals. Each slight success 


The Inventor of the Telephone, Alexander Graham 
Bell, Opening the New York-Chicago Long Dis¬ 
tance Telephone Line, October 18, 1892. 









412 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


filled him with joy, and the failures only made him try 
harder. 

Finally the telephone was finished in time to take its 
place in the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. 
It attracted wide attention and was rapidly adopted. 
Within a few years it had a large use in business offices and 
homes, where it has proved of untold value. Talking by 
telephone between cities hundreds, or even thousands, of 
miles apart is now simple and easy. 

THE WIRELESS TELEGRAPH AND THE WIRELESS TELEPHONE 
ARE MAKING THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD CLOSE 

NEIGHBORS 

Even more wonderful than messages by wire are mes¬ 
sages by air without the aid of wires. This is possible both 
by the telegraph and the telephone. Wireless telegraphy 
was invented by Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian. Its suc¬ 
cessful operation was effected in 1896. Since that time it 
has been possible to have instant communication, without 
the use of wires, between places thousands of miles apart. 

On January 18, 1903, from the wireless-telegraph sta¬ 
tion at Wellfleet, on Cape Cod, President Roosevelt sent 
to King Edward of England the first wireless message across 
the Atlantic. The first wireless-telephone message was sent 
across the Atlantic in 1915. 

On November 11, 1921, the oration President Harding 
delivered in Arlington, Virginia, during the memorial services 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 413 









at the burial of the 
Unknown Soldier of 
the World War, was 
heard distinctly in 
New York, Chicago, 
and other distant 
cities by great 
throngs of listening 
people. This was 
made possible by 
the use of ampli¬ 
fiers. 

From broadcast¬ 
ing wireless, or ra¬ 
dio, stations various 
items of news are 
now sent to points 
hundreds of miles 

away. It is possible for any one having a wireless outfit to 
listen to whatever may be broadcast in far-distant cities. 


© Ewing Galloway 

Big Antennae of a Radio Broadcasting Station on 
the Roof of a Building in One of Our Largest 

Cities. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell some interesting incidents in the boyhood of Alexander Graham 

Bell. 

2. How did he make his dog talk? 

3. What great thought came to him one day? 

4. How has his invention affected our lives? 

5. What is wireless telegraphy? Tell some of its uses. 




















414 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


III 

HENRY FORD, INVENTOR AND BUILDER OF AUTOMOBILES, 
BECOMES A GREAT INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZER 

Another invention to make us forget time and space is 
the automobile. Best known of those who have spent their 
lives in its invention and manufacture is Henry Ford. 

He was born on his father’s farm near Greenfield, 
Michigan, July 30, 1863. His boyhood was in no way 
remarkable except that he was rather more interested in 
machinery and in making things than the other boys that 
he played with. He used to amuse himself by taking apart 
and putting together old watches and clocks, and fitted up 
a workshop where, out of odds and ends of iron and steel, 
he made a steam-engine which would actually go. 

When he was sixteen his love of machinery was so much 
stronger than his interest in school, that one day he left 
suddenly and walked to Detroit, a distance of seven miles, 
in search of a job. He got one at once in a steam-engine 
company at wages of $2.50 a week, but as this did not pay 
his board, he went to work with a jeweller. He spent his 
evenings up to eleven o’clock repairing watches. 

When he had been at this work about a year, he decided 
that he wanted to know something about marine engineer¬ 
ing, and took a position with the Dry Dock Engine Works, 
where he proved an apt pupil and made friends. 

But his thoughts were still busy with watches, and he 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 415 


thought out a plan of making cheap ones in quantities large 
enough to sell at a good profit. He was on the point of 
organizing a company for that purpose, when he was called 
home by the illness of 
his father. 

The father had al¬ 
ways been out of sym¬ 
pathy with Henry’s 
mechanical turn of 
mind, and urged him 
now to settle down to 
farming and make it his 
life-work. For a while 
all went well. The young fellow undertook the manage¬ 
ment of the farm, married one of the girls of the neighbor¬ 
hood, and seemed to have given up all his ambitions in the 
engineering field. 

But while working on the farm he was still free to study 
evenings, and when one day he read that a Frenchman had 
invented a horseless carriage, he was seized by the old long¬ 
ing. The great desire to make such a car took complete 
control of him, and nothing else in his life was so important, 
as the possibilities of such an invention grew in his imagina¬ 
tion. 

He went to Detroit with the hope of getting some helpful 
ideas. While walking from the railroad-station he saw a 
steam-driven fire-engine laboring along the street, moving 



Ford and His First Automobile. 













416 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


slowly because of its weight; it had to carry so much water 
to generate the steam. This question at once came to him: 
Can some motive power other than steam be found for such 
a vehicle? Here was a problem worthy of his best effort. 
Gasolene, he came to believe, might be used as a driving 
force, and toward that end he planned all his experiments. 

Interest in the farm now gave place to that of making 
a horseless carriage that would be practical. Wishing to 
learn more about electricity, he gave up the farm and again 
went to Detroit. 

There he took a position with the Detroit Electric Com¬ 
pany, and within a short time he had built a house in the 
suburbs with a workshop in the rear, where evenings, and 
all night every Saturday, he worked on his experiments. 

After three years of ceaseless toil, in 1893 the day came 
when he finally completed his horseless carriage. It was 
about two o’clock in the morning, and raining, but impa¬ 
tient to know whether his car would run, he jumped in and 
started the engine. To his delight, it shot ahead, barely 
missing a clothes-pole, and went chug-chugging down the 
street. But he could not turn around while sitting in the 
car, and so he got out, lifted it around, and then went 
back home. With all its drawbacks, his invention was a 
success. 

Henry Ford himself knew better than any one else how 
far from perfect his invention was, and for eight years he 
continued his experiments, handicapped constantly by lack 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 417 


of funds. Meantime other men were making automobiles 
and entering races with them. Wishing to be in the field, 
he entered his car in one of these races, and it won. This 
success made friends for his enterprise, and he received 
offers of money to start the manufacture of his car. 



The Present Ford Motor Company at Detroit, Mich. 
Above, Mr. Ford’s First Factory. 


backers did not agree in policy. They wished to build an 
expensive car at a large profit, while his dream had always 
been to manufacture cars at so low a cost that they could 
be sold in very large numbers, and thus make the business 
profitable. You remember his plan was the same for a 
cheap watch. 

Ford was again thrown back upon his own resources. 
The years went on with little accomplished except in further 
experimenting, until a chance came to compete in another 
race in Detroit. The money for the car was advanced this 
time by two mechanics who were his friends. He put in a 












418 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


four-cylinder engine, which was so powerful and unwieldy 
that for some time they could get no one who dared to drive 
it. At length a bicycle-racer was found who learned to 
drive the car in a few days. He entered the race and won 
by half a mile! 

Again success resulted favorably. There was a demand 
for more cars, and Ford and his two friends formed in 1903 
the Ford Motor Company. A small building was hired, 
and cars began to be turned out. Such was the beginning 
of the company that was in the future to manufacture 
millions of low-priced automobiles. 

Now automobiles are used in almost countless numbers, 
for business and also for pleasure. They have become so 
helpful to us that it is hard to see how we could get along 
without them. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell all you can about the boyhood of Henry Ford. 

2. How did he spend his evenings while working on the farm? 

3. What question did he ask himself when he saw the steam-driven fire- 

engine laboring along the street? 

4. Tell about the run down the street in his horseless carriage one rainy 

night. 

5. The automobile was used only for pleasure not many years ago. 

How is it used now? 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 419 


IV 

THE WRIGHT BROTHERS LEAD THE WAY IN THE NAVIGATION 

OF THE AIR 

The light weight of the gas-engine greatly aided in de¬ 
vising perhaps the most wonderful invention of all. This 
was the airplane, or flying-machine, with which the Wright 
brothers, of Dayton, Ohio, surprised the world in the early 
years of the present century. The story of their struggle, 
which ended in their mid-air flight of six miles and back in 
September, 1905, is a captivating one. 

Orville and Wilbur Wright were the sons of a Moravian 
bishop living in Dayton, Ohio. He was a man of wide edu¬ 
cation, with so great a liking for mechanics that in the later 
years of his life he invented a typewriter. Their mother, a 
college woman, was of superior mind, and her family also 
were inclined toward mechanics. 

The two boys, therefore, grew up in an intellectual yet 
practical atmosphere, and read all their father’s books of 
science as well as others that they bought or borrowed. The 
older children of the family had been sent to college, but 
before Orville and Wilbur were ready to go, their mother 
died, and they chose to stay at home with their father. 

At an early age the boys were interested in making and 
operating mechanical toys. One especially never ceased 
to give them delight. It was a toy air-ship that their father 
brought home to them one day. They called it “The Bat,” 


420 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


and used it as a model for many that they made them¬ 
selves. 

As they grew up the boys had much practice in making 
mechanical devices, and when they had to earn their living 
they took up business along those lines. They began the 
manufacture of bicycles with a safety-brake of which they 
were the inventors. 

They were not successful business men, however, for 
they were more intent upon inventing something new than 
upon making and selling bicycles or any other article of 
commerce. They were especially interested in flying-ma¬ 
chines, and before long they began the serious and intense 
study of air navigation. 

Their interest was increased by the remarkable achieve¬ 
ment of Professor Samuel Pierpont Langley, who made a 
machine that flew over the Potomac River, unattended, 
more than a half-mile in a minute and a half. This success¬ 
ful experiment was made in 1896. Seven years later Pro¬ 
fessor Langley finished a man-carrying machine, but when 
he attempted to launch it from the roof of a house-boat on 
the Potomac, his assistant acting as pilot, the launching- 
gear failed to work, and the machine fell into the water. 

In 1900 the Wright brothers built an air-ship which 
they could control from the ground as they would a kite, 
by use of cords. Encouraged by their progress, they con¬ 
tinued to work on the great problem, and their reward was 
not long in coming. On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 421 


took a seat in his airplane, turned on the power, and moved 
through the air for twelve seconds. For the first time in 
all history a machine, propelled by its own motive power 



The First Flight by Man with a Motor-Driven Heavier-thamAir Machine at 
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, December 17, 1903. Orville Wright in 
the Machine, Wilbur Running Alongside of It. 


and carrying a man, had risen from the earth and made a 
safe return. 

About two years later (1905) when the two brothers 
flew twelve miles at a height of about one hundred feet, 
there was no question about their success. 

The airplane is now in regular use to carry mail between 
large cities, and is being employed for the transportation of 
freight and passengers. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell what you can about the early life of the Wright brothers. 

2. What was the remarkable achievement of Professor Langley, and 

what effect did it have upon them? 



















422 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


3. Give an account of the successful flight made by Orville Wright in 

1903. 

4. How has the great invention of the airplane affected the life of the 

world ? 

5. What do you admire in the Wright brothers? 

V 

SCIENCE AND INVENTION BRING GREAT CHANGES IN THE 

LIFE OF THE FARMER 

Nowhere has the advance of science and invention been 
more marked than in agriculture. By the help of science 
the farmer can find out what kind of plant-food the soil 

of his farm contains; and 
how to enrich the soil by 
using the right kind of 
fertilizer. With this knowl¬ 
edge he can be sure of 
harvesting abundant crops, 
provided there is sufficient 
rainfall or good irrigation. 

Inventions which save 
labor in breaking up the 
soil and in harvesting crops have been equally helpful to 
him. By cheapening the cost of production, they have 
greatly lowered the price of wheat, corn, and other kinds of 
food which grow on the farm. 

The farmer of to-day has many other advantages over 
those who tilled the soil a centuiy ago. There are good 













LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 423 



roads in all parts of the country over which produce can be 
easily carried to market. Millions of dollars have been 
spent to build them and keep them in repair. Good roads, 
quick service, and 
convenient markets 
mean greater ease 
and comfort for 
those who live on 
farms. Automo¬ 
biles and trucks by 
the hundred thou¬ 
sand are now in 
constant use by 
farmers throughout 
the country, and 
for those who do 

not own automobiles the trolleys give good service in reach¬ 
ing shopping centres. 

With improved roads and automobiles, there is also 
daily mail service, by rural free delivery, which carries mail 
almost to the farmer's door. He is thus kept more closely in 
touch with friends through correspondence and with what 
is going on in the world through his daily newspaper. 

Still another agency, the telephone, gives him easy 
communication with neighbors, and also with more dis¬ 
tant friends. In many ways the farmer lives a broader, 
if not larger, life than his great-grandfather, who was to 


Farmer Listening to Market and Weather Reports on 

Radio. 











424 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


a great extent cut off from close contact with any but those 
of his own family. 

LUTHER BURBANK, PLANT WIZARD, ACCOMPLISHES MARVELS 
IN THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS AND IN THE 
INCREASE OF FOOD PRODUCTION 

The science of agriculture has advanced not only by 
enrichment of soil and inventions of new machinery but in 
a most surprising way by a process of perfecting seeds and 
of creating new forms of plant life. The result has vastly 
increased the amount of food production. 

The man who has done more than any other in this field 
of science is Luther Burbank. He was born in Lancaster, 
Massachusetts, March 7, 1849, in a house where blossoming 
plants were constant companions, either in the gardens in 
summer or in the window-boxes in winter. 

He seems to have inherited his mother’s love of flowers, 
for we are told that even in his cradle he handled them ten¬ 
derly, never crushing or dropping a flower, but gently hold¬ 
ing it in his tiny fingers until its bloom and fragrance were 
gone. And when a petal fell he would try to put it back 
again in its place. When he was just old enough to toddle 
about, he was given a lobster cactus in a pot, which he fondly 
hugged for hours at a time as he trudged through the house 
and the garden. From earliest childhood flowers and plants 
were to him playmates and companions, and with increas¬ 
ing years his devotion deepened almost to a passion. 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 425 

At fifteen he entered Lancaster Academy, three miles 
from his home ; walking back and forth every day. Here 
he was a good student and was liked by his teachers and 
classmates. He 
joined his play¬ 
mates in their 
sports and games, 
but he enjoyed 
far more the 
companionship 
of plants and 
flowers. 

He was fond 
of books and 
read many from 
his father’s li¬ 
brary and from 
the public library 
in Lancaster, 
always preferring 
those on nature or science, especially when they told about 
the life and habits of plants. 

Although he read with eager interest, he did not neglect 
his home duties, which were such as usually fall to the lot 
of a farmer boy. He drove the cows to pasture, fed the 
chickens, brought wood, pulled weeds, and was helpful in 
many other ways. 



Luther Burbank. 





































































426 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


During summer vacations he worked in his uncle’s plough 
factory in Worcester, Massachusetts, and was always a 
good worker, but he longed for an outdoor life, and took 
up market-gardening and seed-raising. This was the be¬ 
ginning of his wonderful career in the breeding of plants. 
His first experiment to attract public attention was the 
Burbank potato, which has produced, in money-value, more 
than $20,000,000. 

This absorbing work met with an unpleasant interrup¬ 
tion one very hot July day when he had a partial sunstroke. 
But even this experience was a step in advance, for to avoid 
a repetition, he sought another field of labor, where the soil 
and climate would be better suited to the breeding of 
plants. He went to California. With $150 in cash he 
made the journey in 1875, and settled about fifty miles 
north of San Francisco. 

At that time he was slender and his health far from ro¬ 
bust, but his appearance was no measure of his strength 
and endurance. Both were put to a severe test by the 
trials and hardships he passed through. He sought regular 
work, but could not find it. He spent his money to the 
last cent. Lack of food brought him to the edge of starva¬ 
tion and illness near unto death. But he would not give 
up. 

In the soft climate, his health improved, and by 
working at odd jobs he at last saved money enough 
to buy a plot of land at Santa Rosa. Here he began 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 427 


the nursery which later made him famous, and the little 
house that he built is still most attractive with its vine- 
covered walls. 

After many years as a successful nurseryman, Luther 
Burbank gave up the busi¬ 
ness in 1893 in order to 
devote himself to plant¬ 
breeding, which had, by 
degrees, become an absorb¬ 
ing interest. His purpose 
was twofold: (1) to in¬ 
crease the quantity and 
improve the quality of food 
for men and animals and 
(2) to make the world of 
plants and flowers more 
beautiful. 

The energy and earnest¬ 
ness with which he set to 
work soon produced re¬ 
markable results. The reports of his wonderful produc¬ 
tions of fruits and nuts and of flowers and plants read 
like fairy-tales. Who, for instance, before Burbank, ever 
imagined cobless corn, stoneless plums, or seedless grapes? 
And can we be thinking straight when we talk about 
white blackberries? He also has produced a blackberry- 
plant which is so large that it will bear more than a 



Burbank’s Spineless Cactus Slab, with 
Fruit in Stages of Ripening. 




428 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


bushel of berries in a single season, and a strawberry-plant 
that will bear strawberries through the whole summer. 

His most marvellous achievement, however, is the spine¬ 
less cactus. In its natural form the plant grows in enor¬ 
mous quantity on vast, dry plains where almost nothing else 
will grow, but countless spines, thorns, and needles make it 
useless to man or beast. 

Burbank began experimenting with various kinds of 
cactus plants with the double purpose of breeding out all 
the spines and needles and thorns and of increasing the 
size of the plant as well as improving its quality. 

After ten years of patient effort and skilful selection 
and cross-breeding he was rewarded with the stupendous 
satisfaction of growing a giant cactus, eight feet high, with 
great leaves ten to twenty inches long, six to twelve inches 
wide, and an inch or more thick. And not a spine, thorn, 
or needle was on branch or leaf or fruit. 

This new cactus was the marvellous creation of Luther 
Burbank's brain and hand. It supplies excellent food for 
man and forage for cattle and poultry. Moreover, a marked 
increase in both the quality and the quantity of milk has 
resulted where cows have been fed upon it. 

When we call to mind the important fact that in the 
West there are millions of acres of arid land which produce 
almost nothing but cactus, we realize how greatly this crea¬ 
tion of Luther Burbank will increase the supply of food 
and forage in this country alone. But since the area of 


LEADERS IN SCIENCE AND INVENTION 429 


arid and desert land in the world exceeds by 6 ; 000 square 
miles the entire area of the United States, the benefit is 
impossible to compute. 

Said Mr. Burbank, when speaking of this vast increase 
in the world’s food-supply: “The population of the globe 
may be doubled, and yet, in the immediate food of the 
cactus-plant itself and in the food animals which may be 
raised upon it, there would still be enough for all.” 

It is given to few men to do so much for their generation. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. How have labor-saving inventions aided the farmer? Name other 

advantages which the farmers of to-day have over those who tilled 
the soil a century ago. 

2. Tell what you can about Luther Burbank’s early life. 

3. Why did he go to California, and what trials and hardships did he 

endure there? 

4. Tell as much as you can about his wonderful creations in plant breed¬ 

ing. 

5. What marvellous transformation has he made in the cactus-plant? 


CHAPTER XXIX 


RECENT LEADERS IN THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL 

LIFE OF OUR COUNTRY 

I 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT STANDS FOR THE U SQUARE DEAL” 

With the opening of the twentieth century our position 
among the nations of the world had become one of great 
influence. This was due in a large measure to our remark¬ 
able increase in wealth and population. During the last 
thirty years of the nineteenth century our growth in agri¬ 
culture, industry, mining, and railroad construction had 
been enormous. Great changes caused by this growth had 
brought with them many big problems. The most promi¬ 
nent leader in solving them was Theodore Roosevelt. 

AS A BOY ROOSEVELT FIGHTS FOR HEALTH 

He was born October 27, 1858, in New York City, one 
of four children, two boys and two girls. In later years he 
wrote, “My father was the best man I ever knew”; and of 
his mother he said: “She was a sweet, gracious, beautiful 
Southern woman.” For both of them the boy had a deep 
affection. 

Since his father was a man of wealth, Theodore did not 


RECENT LEADERS 


431 


have the handicap of poverty against which some of our 
American boys had to struggle in rising to leadership. 
But he had an uphill fight with a worse enemy, poor health, 
for as a child he was frail and delicate, and from his early 
years suffered keenly from asthma, which often kept him 
from sleeping, except as he was propped up in bed. 

“One of my early memories,” he writes, “is of my 
father walking up and down the room with me in his arms 
at night, when I was a very small person, and of sitting up 
in bed gasping, with my father and mother trying to help 
me.” But of the torture from this insistent disease he 
never complained. 

To help overcome the weakness of Theodore’s con¬ 
stitution, his father fitted up a gymnasium in the Roosevelt 
home, and said to his son: “Theodore, you have the brains, 
but brains are of comparatively little use without the body. 
You have got to make your body, and it lies with you to 
make it. It’s dull, hard work, but you can do it.” And 
Theodore began the fight. 

Because he was not strong, he could not play on equal 
terms with other boys of his age, nor could he attend school 
much. He had to be taught by tutors at home. How¬ 
ever, he put his time to good uses, learning many things not 
in a school course. He not only studied animals and birds; 
he learned to skin them and stuff them for his museum, 
called by him “The Roosevelt Museum of Natural His¬ 
tory.” 


432 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


His memory was good, and he was a great reader. 
Through books he lived gloriously with the knights and 
heroes of other days, and revelled in the old ballads and 
stories of adventure. His imagination was fired, and he 
longed, like the warriors of old, to do great deeds. He 
learned that heroic men must be strong in body as in will, 
since they must be ready to endure endless toil and hard¬ 
ship, and face death, if need be, without shrinking. 

Spurred on by a noble desire, young Theodore therefore 
determined to do all in his power to build up for himself a 
strong body. He not only took his gymnastic exercises 
regularly and faithfully day by day, but he spent much 
time out-of-doors. He enjoyed rowing, especially when the 
wind was high, making it hard for him to guide his boat 
over the rough waters. He liked the excitement and the 
hard pull. Sailing was too tame for him. Whatever the 
task he set for himself, work or play, he was persistent. 
“It is dogged that does it” was a favorite maxim of his in 
boyhood days and throughout the years of manhood. 

He entered Harvard in 1877 and was graduated in 1881, 
a few months before he was twentv-two. 

Before this time his father had died, leaving him suffi¬ 
cient property to enable him to live in comfort without 
working. But Theodore Roosevelt could not live a life of 
idleness and selfish ease. He believed that he should use 
his strength and money in service for the welfare of others 
as well as for himself, and he chose to go into political life. 


RECENT LEADERS 


433 


In 1881, the year that he left college, he won his election 
to the New York legislature, where he served for three suc¬ 
cessive terms. 


IN THE OUTDOOR LIFE OF A DAKOTA RANCH ROOSEVELT 

SEEKS ROBUST HEALTH 



In 1883 Roosevelt had a return of asthma, and seeking 
a dry climate and a 
vigorous outdoor life, 
he went to the Dakota 
country. He wanted 
to hunt buffaloes and 
other big game, and to 
share the hard, rough 
experiences of the cow- 
boys in the Far West. 

On reaching the 
Chimney Butte Ranch, 
which he had made ar¬ 
rangements to occupy, 
he found that the house 
consisted of only one 
room, with a table, 
three bunks, and three 
chairs. Later he bought 
the Elkhorn Ranch, about forty miles away, and built his 
own log house, where he could live in more comfort. 


Theodore Roosevelt, Twenty-one Years of Age, 
and His Brother Elliott Roosevelt, 

One Year Younger. 

Chicago, July, 1880, on the way to a hunting- 

trip. 








434 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


Of this rough, free life on the plains of the great North¬ 
west, Roosevelt wrote later: “In that land we led a hardy 
life with horse and with rifle. We worked under the scorch¬ 
ing midsummer sun, where the wide plains shimmered and 
wavered in the heat; and we knew the freezing misery of 
riding night-guard round the cattle in the late fall round-up. 
. . . We knew toil and hardship and hunger and thirst; and 
we saw men die violent deaths as they worked among the 
horses and cattle, or fought in evil feuds with one another; 
but we felt the heat of hardy life in our veins, and ours was 
the glory of work and the joy of living. 1 1 

“The glory of work and the joy of living” briefly sum 
up what ranch life meant to Roosevelt. The cowboys 
were then inclined to hold in scorn the man who came from 
Eastern cities, and called him a “tenderfoot,” but they 
soon learned that Roosevelt was no “tenderfoot.” He 
shot as well as their best marksmen; he was a good horse¬ 
man; he shared the bad food and the dangers and hardships 
without complaint; and above all he was a man of un¬ 
flinching courage. 

He joined other fearless men in going sometimes 200 or 
300 miles to hunt deer, bears, buffaloes, and other big game; 
he sometimes rode 100 miles after lost horses. He galloped 
in search of cattle and helped in the round-up and the 
branding. On one occasion the spirited bronco he was 
riding bucked him off and broke his arm. At another 
time his horse fell backward on him and broke his shoulder. 


RECENT LEADERS 


435 


As no surgeon could be reached, there was nothing to do 
at such times but to remount and go on with the day’s 
work, trusting nature to mend the break. 

Roosevelt did his share of the work about the ranch- 
house, such as feeding the pigs, chopping cottonwood for 
fuel, and caring for his own horse. Sometimes he even did 
his washing. 

For a good part of every year for six years Roosevelt 

remained in the Dakota country and then returned to New 
York City with a vigorous body, a fearless spirit, and a 

ready mind, prepared to take up whatever duties might 
fall to his lot. 

ROOSEVELT RISES RAPIDLY FROM CIVIL SERVICE COMMIS¬ 
SIONER TO THE PRESIDENCY 

A call to public service soon came to him, for in 1889 
he was appointed on the Civil Service Commission; in 1895 
he became police commissioner in New York City; and in 
1897 he went to Washington as assistant secretary of the 
navy. While holding this office he took a keen interest in 
strengthening the navy, and set out, by increased target 
practice, to secure better marksmanship on the part of the 
sailors. 

When the war with Spain broke out in 1898, he resigned 
as assistant secretary of the navy and raised a volunteer 
regiment of cavalry. His cowboy friends had not forgotten 
him. They rallied to his standard in such numbers that 


436 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


the regiment was known as the “ Rough Riders/’ although 
it included also men from Eastern colleges and from various 
walks of life. The “Rough Riders” so distinguished them¬ 
selves in the fighting in Cuba that at the end of the war 
Colonel Roosevelt as their leader was a national hero. 

In 1898 he was elected governor of New York. Two 
years later he wished a re-election, but was persuaded by 
urgent demand from Republicans throughout the country 
to accept the nomination of the Republican party for vice- 
president. Being elected, he became vice-president in 
1901, and after the death of President McKinley in Septem¬ 
ber of that year, succeeded to the presidency. 

ROOSEVELT CHAMPIONS A POLICY OF IRRIGATION, AND 
FIGHTS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF OUR 
NATURAL RESOURCES 

Soon after becoming President, Roosevelt’s attention was 
called to the vast areas of the West that were waste land 
through lack of rainfall and of irrigation. In his first 
message to Congress he drew attention to the matter, de¬ 
claring, “The forest and water problems are perhaps the 
most vital internal problems of the United States,” and 
throughout his administration he continued most active in 
reclaiming arid areas by irrigation. Many large projects 
were started during his term of office as President. 

Closely connected with rainfall and irrigation is the 
preservation and extension of forests. To these problems 


RECENT LEADERS 


437 


President Roosevelt gave close and thoughtful attention. 
His belief was that our forests should not be wasted by pri¬ 
vate speculators for their own gain, as had long been the 
case, but that they should be preserved by the nation in 
the interest of the people as a whole. He therefore from 
time to time added to them large regions of forest-covered 
land, and also adopted measures to prevent destruction 
from forest-fires. Roads and pathwa}^s were cut through 
the national forests, and watch-towers and telegraph-lines 
constructed, making it possible for the forest-rangers to 
detect fires quickly and prevent them from spreading. 

ROOSEVELT TAKES THE LEAD FOR ARBITRATION IN SETTLING 

THE COAL STRIKE OF 1902 

Another important service that Roosevelt rendered his 
country was the part he took in the settlement of the coal 
strike of 1902. It began in May, and when it continued 
until early autumn without prospect of settlement, the 
people grew serious and anxious. Without coal there would 
be suffering in homes and business offices; factories would 
have to shut down; and transportation by rail would halt. 

Although President Roosevelt was without any legal 
authority in the matter, he brought the great power of his 
office to bear upon the threatening situation. Having called 
together representatives of the mine-owners and the miners, 
he persuaded them to agree to have the strike dispute arbi¬ 
trated, both sides promising in advance to accept any de- 


438 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


cision the board of arbitrators might reach after due in¬ 
vestigation. The settlement brought great relief to the 
nation. 

Roosevelt’s position in 1902 toward the mine-owners 
and the workers in the mines was a good example of his 
attitude toward labor-unions and business corporations. 
He had a keen sense of right and fair play. As he himself 
said ; he believed in the “square deal.” “The labor-unions 
shall have a square deal/’ he said; “and the corporations 
shall have a square deal.” He insisted upon justice for the 
rich man and the poor man alike; declaring that each should 
come under the rule of law, reason, and right. 

ROOSEVELT MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR THE UNITED STATES TO 

CONSTRUCT THE PANAMA CANAL 

Some historians believe that Roosevelt’s greatest achieve¬ 
ment was the building of the Panama Canal, since to him 
more than to all others was due the completion of this won¬ 
derful engineering feat. For years thoughtful Americans 
had discussed the need of a canal across the isthmus which 
so narrowly separated the two oceans. After the close of 
the Spanish-American War, when we had gained possession 
of Porto Rico and had taken Cuba under our protection, 
the need of such a canal, to be built and controlled by our 
own people, was felt more deeply than ever. 

Long before definite steps were taken by our govern¬ 
ment toward realizing this project, a French company had 


RECENT LEADERS 


439 



attempted the con¬ 
struction of such a 
canal, but after the 
loss of $278,000,000 
and the lives of 
thousands of la¬ 
borers, it had given 
up the enterprise. 

Against power¬ 
ful opposition Presi¬ 
dent Roosevelt was 
able to secure the 
passing by Congress 
of the Isthmian 
Canal Act in June, 

1902. This law 
gave the President 
power to purchase 
the unfinished 
Panama Canal at a 
cost not to exceed 

$40,000,000, and also to acquire by treaty a strip of land, 
not less than six miles wide, extending across the isthmus. 
Within this strip, or zone, the United States was to con¬ 
struct, operate, and protect the canal. 

In accordance with this law a treaty was made with 
Panama and $40,000,000 paid to the French company. 


From a painting by Thornton Oakley. 

Uniting the Atlantic and the Pacific. 

President Roosevelt, in 1906, personally inspected 
the Panama Canal work. 



440 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


The work of construction was begun in 1904. In 1914 the 
Panama Canal was opened to the commerce of the world. 



. i 


Copyrighted by Underwood & Underwood. 

Theodore Roosevelt Reviewing American Troops Prior to Their Embarking for 

Europe in the World War. 


ROOSEVELT AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN 

Roosevelt’s presidency ended on March 4, 1909, but his 
influence was never greater than during the last few years 
of his life. Amid the issues arising from the World War 
he constantly aroused, by his stirring appeals, the loyalty 
of his fellow citizens. His death at Oyster Bay, on Janu¬ 
ary 6, 1919, brought deep grief throughout America. 

His patriotism was unbounded, and he had sublime faith 






RECENT LEADERS 


441 


in the power and opportunity of his country for world 
service. This was beautifully recorded in his own words: 
“We here in America hold in our hands the hope of the 
world, the fate of the coming years, and shame and disgrace 
will be ours if in our eyes the light of high resolve is dimmed, 
if we trail in the dust the golden hope of men.” 

Some Things to Think About 

1. How did Roosevelt overcome the handicap of a frail body in his boy¬ 

hood days? 

2. How did his reading influence his life? 

3. Discuss his life at the ranch in the Dakota country as an element in 

his education. 

4. What did Roosevelt do for irrigation and for the preservation of our 

natural resources ? 

5. What part did he take in the settlement of the coal strike in 1902? 

6. What did he say about the “square deal,” and what did he mean? 

7. How did he make it possible for the United States to build the Panama 

Canal? What is its importance to us and to the other nations 
of the world? 

8. What do you admire most in Roosevelt’s character? 


II 

FRANCES E. WILLARD DEVOTES HER LIFE TO THE CAUSE 

OF TEMPERANCE 

One of the most striking features of this new age is the 
place that women occupy in public life, for they fill an im¬ 
portant part in industry, in the professions, and in the gen¬ 
eral work carried on for the people’s welfare. Since the 
days of the spinning-wheel and home manufactures the 


442 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


change has come about gradually. When the spinning- 
machine, the power-loom, and other large and costly ma¬ 
chines were set up in the factory, women followed, and did 
there what they had formerly done in the home. 

This meant more than a simple transfer of activity. It 
gave rise to a new situation, for as long as mothers and 
daughters had worked at home, they were not paid in 
money; but when they went into the factory to work, they 
became wage-earners. 

With freedom of industrial opportunity then followed 
advancement in public education. Women now have ad¬ 
vantages in higher education equal to those of men, and 
compete with them in many fields of service. Thousands 
of women are teachers in our high schools and colleges; many 
are college professors; others are lawyers and physicians; 
and some are filling political offices in city, state, and 
national government. 

Among the first women to be known by the whole na¬ 
tion was Frances E. Willard. She was born on September 

28, 1839, in Churchville, New York. When she was seven 

\ 

3 r ears old the family decided to go West, and in three 
white-hooded prairie-schooners they made a journey of four 
weeks to Wisconsin. There they settled on the beautiful 
banks of Rock River and built a simple dwelling, which 
they called “Forest Home.” 

The Willard children had few playmates because set¬ 
tlers were few and far between; but the household was a 


RECENT LEADERS 


443 


happy one, since all, old and young alike, enjoyed the free 
outdoor life in close touch with nature. 

Frances was fond of reading, and by the time she was 
fourteen had read all the books owned in the family, among 
them the Bible, plays of Shakespeare, 

“Pilgrim’s Progress,” and some biog¬ 
raphies and histories. 

It was fortunate for this active- 
minded girl that about that time a 
schoolhouse was built only a mile 
from her home. She attended this 
school for a year, then went for 
some months to another in the village 
of Janesville, near by, and after that 
spent a year in Milwaukee Female College. Here she did 
good work, and at nineteen entered Northwestern Uni¬ 
versity, Evanston, Illinois, where she prepared herself for 
teaching. 

She was a gifted woman and enjoyed working with young 
people, but gave up her profession to join in a broader 
movement that was then engaging much public attention. 
It was the cause of temperance, and it is as a worker in 
that cause that she is best known to us. 

In 1874 she was secretary of the Woman’s Christian 
Temperance Union—a national body—and five years later 
its president. In 1888 she was elected president of the 
World’s Christian Temperance Union. 



444 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


She was a good speaker and a hard worker. In one 
year she travelled more than 30,000 miles, speaking in 
every state in the Union. During a period of twelve years 
she made one speech a day, on an average, allowing her¬ 
self only six weeks of rest in a year. She spent this in her 
quiet home—Rest Cottage—with her mother. 

Her life was one of unselfish devotion to others. She 
carried joy and inspiration wherever she went, touching 
hearts by her kindness and quickening hope in all who 
came under her personal influence. Said a cultivated South¬ 
ern woman, after hearing her speak: “ The first time I heard 
her I lay awake all night for sheer gladness. It was such 
a wonderful revelation to me that a woman like Miss 
Willard could exist. I thanked God and took courage for 

humanitv.” 

%/ 

Such was the power of her remarkable personality that 
the eyes of the nation were opened to the great waste of 
the drink evil and to the poverty and suffering it caused. 
Temperance organizations continued the work she had so 
ably forwarded, and through their influence, after many 
years of unceasing effort, Congress in 1917 proposed an 
amendment to the Constitution, making unlawful the manu¬ 
facture or sale of intoxicating liquors. This amendment— 
the Eighteenth—became a part of the Constitution early in 
1919. 




RECENT LEADERS 


445 


Some Things to Think About 

1. Compare the work women do now with that of our great-grandmothers. 

What has brought about the great change? 

2. Tell all you can about the hard work of Frances E. Willard. 

3. What did a cultivated woman say about her? 

4. What was her most important achievement? 

Ill 

CLARA BARTON ORGANIZES THE AMERICAN RED CROSS 

The leader of another great movement, the American 
Red Cross, was Clara Barton. On 
Christmas Day, 1821, in Oxford, 

Massachusetts, was born the child 
whose life was to bring comfort 
into so many other lives. As a 
girl she was shy, and sensitive to 
all forms of suffering, but she was 
fond of daring sports, and could 
run and ride like a boy. “When 
five years old,” she said, “I rode 
wild horses like a little Mexican.” 

When only eleven, she had her 
first experience in that service 
which twenty-five years later became her life-work. At a 
barn-raising on her father’s farm, her brother David took 
a dare and climbed to the peak of the building to fasten 
the rafters to the ridge-pole. A board broke under his 



Clara Barton. 

Civil War nurse and first presi¬ 
dent of the American Red 
Cross. 




446 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


feet and, in falling, his body struck some heavy timbers. 
For two years he was a helpless cripple, and Clara was 
his tender nurse. During all that time the faithful little 
sister never left his bedside but for one half-day. 

At fifteen years she became a teacher in a public 
school, but after eighteen years of successful experience 
she gave up teaching and took a position in the Patent Office 
at Washington, little thinking that this would lead to her 
great life-work. 

When the Civil War broke out, the first soldiers to arrive 
in Washington (April, 1861) were from Massachusetts, near 
Clara Barton’s old home. They had been attacked by a 
mob in Baltimore, and many were wounded, among them 
some that she had known in her girlhood days. In the 
letter she wrote home, she said: “We bound their wounds 
and fed them.” Thus began her active service in the 
war. 

By her remarkable fitness for the work, she at once be¬ 
came the centre of relief in Washington. To her flocked 
the suffering and needy soldiers, and during the long, hot 
weeks of summer she collected, stored, and gave out sup¬ 
plies. She also went to the docks and met wounded sol¬ 
diers returning from the ranks, took them to the hospital, 
and bathed their neglected wounds. 

Not content with waiting at the docks, she wanted to 
go to the wounded soldiers on the battle-field and give aid 
as soon as possible after they had fallen. She could not 


RECENT LEADERS 


447 


bear to think that many must suffer and even die without 
care; but it was months before she could get permission 
from the government to go wdthin the lines. When, after 



From a drawing by F. C. Yohn. 

The Red Cross in War-Time. 


many rebuffs, she was at last granted passports, she was so 
overcome that she wept tears of joy. 

From then until the war ended she gave herself unspar¬ 
ingly to the wounded and dying on the battle-field. No 
demand was too great, no service w T as too small, if it brought 
comfort to the suffering soldiers. They called her “The 
Angel of the Battle-field.’ 7 

When the war was over, she spent four years in trying 
to locate the 40,000 soldiers who were “missing.” She 



448 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


worked so hard that she had to take a rest, and she went 
to Europe. While she was there the Franco-Prussian War 
broke out, and she was sought by the leaders of the Inter¬ 
national Red Cross to help in the work of mercy, for 
the fame of her labors in the Civil War had gone before 
her. 

Again she became “the angel of the battle-field,” and her 
slight figure, in plain dark dress, was a familiar sight in 
the war region. She might be easing a fallen soldier; she 
might be making her way through the shattered streets of 
stricken cities; or she might be entering bombarded houses 
and villages to seek out the starving, half-clothed women 
and children. She was always engaged in some service of 
love and sympathy. 

Believing that the United States should join in the work 
of mercy in which twenty-two nations were already actively 
organized, she came home with the hope of accomplishing 
that end. It did not happen all at once, but through her 
influence the American Red Cross was organized in 1886, 
and she became the first president. 

We all know the emblem of the Red Cross, and we 
know it stands for gentle, loving, and skilful service to 
suffering humanity. Victims of pestilence, famine, earth¬ 
quake, floods, and other calamities have reason to love it, 
but its greatest work has been for the soldier on the battle¬ 
field. There the wounded, far from the tender ministries 
of home, are gathered in the arms of mercy and tended by 


RECENT LEADERS 


449 


faithful nurses of the Red Cross, which has been called 
“the greatest mother in the world.” 

Clara Barton died in 1912, but the great work she or¬ 
ganized has continued to grow under other leadership, and 
to be supported always by loyal workers. 

In her devotion during the storm and stress of war 
Clara Barton by no means stood alone. In the World War 
as in our Civil War and in the Revolution American women 
were keenly responsive to the needs of the country and were 
untiring in their service. They were as comrades to their 
husbands, brothers, and sons who had enlisted for field 
service in the army. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Tell about Clara Barton’s nursing her brother when she was a young; 

girl. 

2. Why did she feel that she must go to the battle-field and aid the men 

who had fallen there? 

3. What can you tell about the great work of the American Red Cross, 

of which Clara Barton was the first president? 

IV 

ANNA HOWARD SHAW BECOMES A LEADER IN THE WOMAN- 

SUFFRAGE CAUSE 

A third great movement in which women took the leading 
part was the woman-suffrage cause. Well-known pioneers 
in this movement were Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and 
Miss Susan B. Anthony. For very many years these two 
women worked together with lasting results for the good of 


450 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


the cause they loved so well. In 1868 they united in pub¬ 
lishing a newspaper favoring woman suffrage, and in the 
following year they founded the National Woman’s Asso¬ 
ciation. 

These lifelong friends were well adapted to supplement 
each other’s work, for while Mrs. Stanton was strong as a 
writer, Miss Anthony excelled as a business manager. 

When, however, the two veteran workers had become 
less active by reason of advancing years, other leaders took 
their places. One of these was Anna Howard Shaw. Born 
in Scotland on February 14, 1847, Anna Howard Shaw 
came at four years of age, with other members of the 
Shaw household, to America, where their first home was 
in New England. 

When Anna was twelve, the family joined the westward 
movement, and, making the journey in an ox-cart, settled 
in northern Michigan in an old log cabin a hundred miles 
from any railroad and six miles from the nearest neighbor. 
The cabin had a big fireplace made of mud and stones, 
but there were only holes in the walls for windows and 
doors. 

There were no books except the few the family had 
brought with them, and these Anna read and reread until, 
as she said, she knew them all by heart. 

She liked to wander into the woods and stay for hours, 
reading and thinking and dreaming about what she would 
do when she became a woman. One day when she re- 


RECENT LEADERS 


451 


turned, her father rebuked her, saying: “A girl who will 
run away to the woods and stay all day is of no account. 
I suppose we shall never be able to do anything with you. 
You are the black sheep of the family. ” 

Deeply hurt, Anna replied: “ Some day you will take all 
that back. I am going to study and study, and some day 
I shall go to college. And when I am through I shall make 
money—lots of money. I shall be worth $10,000.” 

But her visions went far beyond college days, for her 
great hope was to be a preacher, and often in the woods 
she would preach childish sermons with only animals and 
birds to hear the sound of her voice. 

The arrival of other families gradually made a settle¬ 
ment, and a school was opened, which Anna attended at 
one time for three months. At fifteen she became a teacher, 
with a salary of two dollars a week and board, going from 
one family to another and staying two weeks in each place. 
The intervals of teaching were spent in helping on the farm, 
and for a time she attended a high school in Big Rapids. 

After ten years of strenuous work she entered Albion 
College, in Albion, Michigan, when she was twenty-five. 
Although she had but eighteen dollars at that time, when 
she was graduated she had earned enough by lecturing and 
preaching to pay for her college course. 

Still wishing to be a preacher, she became a student in 
the Theological School of Boston University. Since there 
was not the same opportunity of earning money by lecturing 


452 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


and preaching that she had found in Michigan, she lived on 
milk and crackers for weeks at a time, her hunger never 
satisfied. “In my home in the wilderness,” she said, “I 

had often heard wolves prowling 
around our door at night. Now, 
in Boston, I heard them even 
at high noon.” But neither 
hunger nor loneliness could daunt 
her spirit. 

She finished her course in the 
university and a little later took 
up her duties as preacher at two 
churches on Cape Cod, Massa¬ 
chusetts. 

Although successful in her 
work as preacher, the field of 
her service was too small. She 
wanted to minister to the bodily 
as well as to the spiritual needs of her people, and, before 
the end of her seven years of service on Cape Cod, she 
had taken the degree of M.D. in Boston University. 

While attending the medical school she had been a vol¬ 
unteer physician and nurse in the Boston slums. What she 
saw while on duty there led to the latest expression of her 
life-work. The changed conditions affecting women, in vast 
and ever-increasing numbers, as wage-earners, had de¬ 
veloped new problems. The more she thought about these 



Doctor Anna Howard Shaw. 

She was preacher at two churches 
on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 
































RECENT LEADERS 


453: 


new problems, the more confident she was that women 
should work side by side with men in solving them, and to 
do this they should share equally with men the responsibil¬ 
ities of citizenship. In other words, she believed that 
women as well as men should be allowed to vote at the polls. 

With her mind clearly made up on this question, she 
was easily persuaded by the great leader of the Woman’s 
Rights Movement, Susan B. Anthony, to devote her life to 
the cause of woman suffrage, or “ the Cause,” as she called 
it. From 1892 to 1904 she was vice-president of the Na- 
tional American Woman Suffrage Association, and from 
1904 to 1915 its president. Under her leadership the move¬ 
ment made rapid and steady progress. It was her crown¬ 
ing work. 

Her life was a happy one, her friendships were many,, 
and her honors were great; but she always regarded her 
labors in the cause which was so near her heart as the best 
and most satisfactory part of her career. In her own 
words one may say: “Nothing bigger can come to a human 
being than to love a great cause more than life itself, and to 
have the privilege throughout life of working for that 
cause.” 

Wyoming was the first state to vote full suffrage to 
women. By degrees the movement grew, and many other 
states followed Wyoming in giving to women the same 
voting privileges as men. At last Congress proposed an 
amendment to the Constitution, providing for full suffrage 


454 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


for women in all the states of the Union. In 1920, the year 
after Doctor Anna Howard Shaw died, this amendment— 
the Nineteenth—became a part of the Constitution. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Give an account of Anna Howard Shaw’s girlhood days. 

2. What hard experience did she have while a student in Boston Uni¬ 

versity ? 

3. Do you understand why she decided to devote her life to the cause 

of woman suffrage ? 

4. Why is the privilege of voting very important in a republic like ours? 

V 

WOODROW WILSON IS LEADER AND SPOKESMAN FOR 
AMERICA IN THE WORLD WAR 

Our position as a world-power, which was due partly 
to our success in the war with Spain and to the growing 
value of our natural resources, was emphasized by the 
events of the World War. 

Many thoughtful people in America and in other coun¬ 
tries had come to hope and believe that there would never 
be another great war; that differences arising among nations 
would be settled by peaceful methods. But in the summer 
of 1914 there broke out in Europe the most terrible war of 
all history. On the first day of August, Germany declared 
war upon Russia and two days later upon France. Within 
ten days seven nations had sent their armies to the field 


RECENT LEADERS 


455 


of battle—Germany and Austria on one side ; and Russia, 
France, England, Serbia, and Belgium on the other. 

Although the battle-ground was in Europe, before the 
struggle ended nearly every civilized nation of the world 
was taking some part in it, and many million men, women, 
and children lost their lives. 

When the war began, Woodrow Wilson was the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States. Up to that time his life, except 
when he was governor of New Jersey, had been largely that 
of a scholar, but he had shown also that he could fight for 
a cause, and now the people looked earnestly to him for 
leadership. 

WOODROW WILSON PREPARES FOR LEADERSHIP 

This son of a Presbyterian clergyman was born on De¬ 
cember 28, 1856, at Staunton, Virginia. Two years later 
the family moved to Augusta, Georgia. 

From boyhood, he and his father were always good 
comrades, and the home life did much to aid the boy’s 
mental growth. Gathered about the fireside in the eve¬ 
ning, the family read together good English novels and 
other books of value. 

This was excellent preparation for an ambitious boy who 
had many bright visions of wonderful things he would do 
as a man. 

At Princeton he took a lively interest in many college 
activities, including athletics and debating, and was promi- 



456 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


nent in the student body. On graduating, he studied law 
in the University of Virginia, and won a prize in oratory, 
but after two years of practice in Atlanta, he gave up law 
to become a teacher. He took a special course in Johns 
Hopkins University, where he received the degree of Ph.D., 
and then made a brilliant reputation as a teacher of history 
and economics. In 1890 he was called to be a professor at 
Princeton, and twelve years later he was elected president 
of that university. 

As a popular speaker on problems of government, he 
attracted the attention of leaders in the Democratic party, 
and was elected governor of New Jersey in 1910. In this 
new field of public service he showed such ability as a leader 
that in 1912 he was elected President of the United States. 

There was no sign then that his term of office was to 
cover a period more important than any since the Civil 
War. 

PRESIDENT WILSON FACES DIFFICULT PROBLEMS AT THE 
BEGINNING OF THE WORLD WAR 

The World War was the outcome of a struggle for power 
in which Germany was trying to make herself mistress of 
the world. There had long been strained feeling between 
the Central Powers of Europe, that is, Germany and Aus¬ 
tria, and what was called the “Triple Entente,” which in¬ 
cluded England, France, and Russia. But the immediate 
cause was the assassination in Serbia of the Austrian crown 


RECENT LEADERS 


457 


prince. On August 4, 1914 ; the powerful German army 
marched into Belgium because the easiest and quickest route 
to France passed through that country. The plan of the 
Kaiser and his generals was to conquer France, and then 
unite all their forces in a resistless 
attack upon Russia. 

Before any great battle was fought, 

President Wilson issued a proclama¬ 
tion in which he advised all Ameri¬ 
can citizens “to act and speak in the 
true spirit of friendliness to all con¬ 
cerned/’ This he believed was in 
accord with the policy which our 
country had always followed. 

But bound up as our interests 
were in a thousand ways with our neighbors across the sea, 
their struggle was sure to affect us sooner or later. It was 
not long after the beginning of the war that England tried, 
by blockade, to prevent goods from reaching Germany 
either through her own ports or those of other countries 
that traded with her. Germany, in turn, declared that 
she would destroy all enemy vessels in the waters around 
the British Isles. 

These blockades threatened to destroy much of our 
foreign trade, but they led to worse and unthought-of 
evils; for Germany, in February, 1915, began to use sub¬ 
marines, the first time that destructive vessels of this kind 



(C) Undei~wood &* U>ider^vood. 

Woodrow Wilson. 






458 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


were used in war. Within three months she torpedoed 
many vessels, among them passenger-ships of the great 
ocean lines, and some of these ships belonged to neutral 
countries. 

In the face of such destruction of life and property, our 
government sent a note to Germany, earnestly declaring 
that the United States would hold her “ strictly account¬ 
able” if any American vessel should be destroyed or any 
American lives lost. 

Yet during the next three months German submarines 
sank American vessels and destroyed American lives. On 
May 7, 1915, the Lusitania, an English passenger-ship, was 
sunk without warning on her way from New York to Liver¬ 
pool. Of the 1,154 who lost their lives, 114 were Americans. 

President Wilson, still wishing to avoid war, sent the 
German Government an emphatic note of protest, calling 
attention to the law of long standing among the nations 
that no merchant or passenger ship could be sunk at sea 
without warning and without providing for the safety of 
passengers and crew. 

On August 19, 1915, another passenger-vessel, the 
Arabic, was torpedoed, with the loss of two American lives. 
This time, in answer to our protest, Germany replied that 
her submarine commanders had been ordered to make no 
attacks in future upon neutral merchant vessels which would 
endanger the lives of passengers and crews. 

After a lapse of less than a year and a half, however, 


RECENT LEADERS 


459 


Germany reversed this policy, and on January 31, 1917, 
gave notice that she would begin the next day to sink at 
sight, and without trying to save the lives of crews and 



Photograph by C. V. Buck, copyrighted by Underwood &■ Underwood. 

President Wilson Delivering His War Message to Congress, April 2, 1917. 


passengers, all vessels she might find in extensive areas 
named by her, north and west of Europe and in the Medi¬ 
terranean Sea. 

Without further delay President Wilson dismissed the 
German ambassador at Washington and recalled our am¬ 
bassador from Berlin. 

Yet war did not follow at once. Not until about the 
middle of March, when it became known that Germany had 
















460 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


caused further loss of American lives by torpedoing three 
American vessels, was hope of peace entirely given up. 

OUR COUNTRY ENTERS THE WAR 

At a joint session of the Senate and the House of Rep¬ 
resentatives, held on April 2, President Wilson read a mo¬ 
mentous message, in which he said, in effect, that Germany 
had forced us into war by first making war upon us. She 
had injured our commerce; she had destroyed our propert} 7 ; 
she had taken American lives. Congress therefore declared 
war upon Germany on April 6, 1917. 

The war in Europe had been going on two years and 
eight months. Turkey and Bulgaria were now fighting on 
the side of Germany and Austria, while Italy and Roumania 
had joined England, France, and Russia. Millions of hu¬ 
man lives had been lost, but the victory was not won, and 
the armies of Germany and Austria were still powerful. 

Although our army and navy were too small to be of im¬ 
mediate service on the fighting-line, there were certain other 
ways in which we could co-operate with the Allies, as 
England, France, and the countries fighting on their side 
were called. For instance, we could lend money, furnish 
war-supplies, send raw materials for workers in mills and 
factories, and food for all. We could also build merchant 
ships in large numbers, and we could assist in fighting the 
submarine. 

Of all the needs of the Allies, that of building ships 


RECENT LEADERS 


461 


was the most pressing, for without ships they could not 
receive supplies. It was for this very reason that the 
Germans were attempting by submarines to destroy all 
shipping. 

By the summer of 1918, 550,000 Americans were building 



Launching of S. S. Tacoma. 

In July, 1918, our shipyards produced over 631,000 tons of shipping. 


ships, and in the month of July our shipyards produced 
over 631,000 tons of shipping. This was a remarkable 
output. 

Six weeks after war was declared, Congress passed the 
Army Draft Bill as the first step toward raising an army. 
About 24,000,000 men in all, between the ages of eighteen 
and forty-five years, were registered during the war. 1 rom 
















462 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


these the government selected and trained 4,000,000 men 
for service in the American army. In the navy, in the 
marine corps, and in other forms of military and naval 
service there were about 800,000 more. 

The Kaiser and his generals believed that American 
troops could not reach France in time to be of much use. 
But before the war ended 2,000,000 of our troops were in 
Europe, and we were sending them across the sea at the 
rate of 250,000 a month. 


AMERICAN SOLDIERS HELP TO FIGHT THE GERMANS AND TO' 

END THE WAR 

Not long after reaching the front, our boys met the 
Germans in Belleau Wood, where the enemy was making- 
a grand assault aimed at the capture of Paris. The Ger¬ 
mans were only forty miles away from the French capital 
when American soldiers and a brigade of American marines 
held them up. The engagement, known as the battle of 
Chateau-Thierry, began on June 2 and lasted almost a 
month. 

Although outnumbered—three, four, and at times even 
five to one—our boys fought stubbornly, week after week, 
until by the end of June (1918) they had driven every Ger¬ 
man soldier out of Belleau Wood. 

This battle of Chateau-Thierry has been called the turn¬ 
ing-point of the war. The heroic fighting of the American 



RECENT LEADERS 


463 


marines and the American soldiers in Belleau Wood has 
never been surpassed in all history. 

Within three weeks Marshal Foch, who had been placed 



Copyrighted by Kadel & Herbert. 


American Troops Resting After Their Arrival in France. 


in supreme command of all the allied armies, began (July 18) 
a series of tremendous attacks which did not end until Ger¬ 
many was defeated. 

By the last of September the German armies were in 
full retreat, and in these last months of the war the 
American troops again fought bravely. They had to push 
their way through the Argonne Forest and cut the railroad 
in the rear of the Germans to prevent the enemy from get¬ 
ting food and other supplies. For forty-seven days a terrible 
struggle went on, but our boys won a decisive victory. 







464 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


In this battle, the greatest ever fought by American sol¬ 
diers, our army lost in killed, wounded, and missing more 
than 100,000 men. During the war our losses were nearly 
303,000. 

On November 11 an armistice was signed, and the 
Germans surrendered their armies and fleets. German 
military power was completely broken. The Kaiser, forced 
to give up his crown, escaped to Holland. Thus fell 
the German Empire. It was quickly followed by a re¬ 
public. 

During the war American valor, tested on a foreign 
field, had won deserved praise. Our boys surpassed the 
highest expectations, and not only our lives are made safer 
but our memories richer by their brave deeds on the fields 
of France. 

THE WHOLE NATION EARNESTLY STRIVES FOR VICTORY 

In time of war all who work for the good of the country 
are in a way soldiers. All can be at least loyal citizens, 
doing the duty that lies nearest them. In this war the 
whole nation was striving for victory. Farmers, business 
men, railroad operators, mechanics, unskilled laborers, and 
women and children were all enlisted in loyal sendee. 

The American Red Cross did a wonderful work. You 
have learned elsewhere in how many ways this splendid 
organization relieves suffering. During the war it reached 
its largest usefulness, and drew into its service huge numbers 


RECENT LEADERS 


465 


of workers, who longed to express their loyalty to the cause 
and to their country. 

American boys and girls were no less loyal than our 
men and women. They saved money to buy thrift stamps; 



Government Officers Superintending the Assembling of the Liberty Motors. 


they sold thrift stamps; and they took their part in the 
Liberty Loan campaigns. They cheerfully denied them¬ 
selves certain kinds of food needed overseas. They planted 
and cared for millions of war gardens and thus raised food 
worth many million dollars. The girls also joined their 
mothers in making bandages for soldiers and garments for 
the thousands of French and Belgian children who had 
been driven from their homes in regions laid waste by the 


war. 















466 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


The war cost the American people $22,000,000,000, or 
more than $1,000,000 an hour for a period of more than two 
years. Besides this amount expended, we loaned England, 
France, and their allies $10,000,000,000. 

Our country played a large and worthy part in winning 
this war. As a people we were more united than we had 
ever been in any other war, and at its close America was 
fulfilling an important service to the world. 

Let us hope that our moral greatness may equal our 
material power and that we may prove worthy of our trust. 
We can all help to do this by obeying the laws, by always 
standing for justice and fair play, and by doing, day by 
day, in an unselfish spirit, the duties which belong to all 
patriotic Americans. 


Some Things to Think About 

1. How did Woodrow Wilson as a boy and as a young man prepare for 

leadership ? 

2. What was his great problem as President at the beginning of the 

World War? 

3. What right was America standing for in the dispute with Germany 

over the use of submarines? 

4. Why did we finally enter the war? 

5. What part did we play in ending the war? How important a part 

was it? 

6. What were some of the costs of the war that can be estimated? 

7. What place do we occupy among the nations of the world? Of 

what great service may we be to the world in the future? 


107 Longitude 102 West 97 from 92 Greenwich 87 



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Pecos 


If v 




U&J! 


The Territorial Growth of the United States 





































































































CHAPTER XXX 


THE HERITAGE OF AMERICAN BOYS AND GIRLS 

TO-DAY 

The foregoing chapters show clearly the great advance 
that we as a people have made in material wealth. But 
far more important is the using of that wealth in such a 
way as to help every citizen in the land to make the most 
he can of himself. 

Discoveries in the field of medicine and public hygiene 
have taught us how to keep well and to develop our bodies. 
We have learned that we must eat pure food, breathe fresh 
air, exercise freely, and get plenty of rest and sleep. As a 
means to insure this end, the school department in many 
cities has employed trained nurses who look after pupils in 
school, and even go to their homes to advise their mothers 
how to keep the children well. This is done in the hope of 
preventing human waste. 

In the interests of child welfare most of our states 
have passed compulsory-education laws and child-labor laws, 
which will give the children a chance for growth and pre¬ 
vent them from becoming wage-earners at too early an 
age. 

For training and informing the mind and for develop- 

467 


468 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


ing right ideals of duty and service, the American people 
have made lavish provision in their schools, colleges, and 
universities. No other people have spent money so gen- 
erouslv for the education of their children. In some states 
a complete system of tax-supported education makes it 
possible for boys and girls to begin at the kindergarten 
and continue through the college and university with little 
cost to themselves. 

In the last forty or fifty years, under the direction of the 
United States Department of Agriculture, much attention 
has been given to special training for life on the farm. 
There are more than sixty agricultural colleges in the whole 
country, and also model farms and experiment stations in 
agriculture in every state in the Union. 

Another movement is that which favors vocational or 
trade schools—that is, schools which give special training 
for modern industry. These are intended for those who 
do not wish to take the higher courses in college and uni¬ 
versity. 

Just as noteworthy has been the extension of the higher 
education for women during the past fifty years. Women 
now have educational advantages equal to those of men, 
and have entered upon many occupations which until after 
the Civil War were closed to them. Women are doing more 
than they ever did before in the many forms of social wel¬ 
fare and public service which make for a finer and better 
community life. 



HERITAGE OF AMERICAN BOYS AND GIRLS 469 


Much has been done also for the care and training of the 
weak and helpless members of society. We have many in¬ 
stitutions for the blind, the deaf, and mental defectives. 

There is special instruction also for foreign-born adults 
who have come to our land. The aim is not only to teach 
them to speak and write English but to give them training 
in American customs and ideals and the duties of citizens 
in this great, free country. 

Our social settlements, boys’ clubs, Boy Scouts, Girl 
Scouts, Young Men’s Christian Association, Young Women’s 
Christian Association, and many other organized groups 
open the door of opportunity to all who are willing to re¬ 
ceive training and uplift. In almost countless ways, many 
of which were unknown one hundred years ago, kindly and 
sympathetic workers are giving friendly aid to those who 
will thereby be made better men and women. 

Thus has our material wealth been used to make life 
better and more agreeable for us all. 

Before leaving this story of our country I wish you 
would each think for a moment about the contrast between 
the comforts and opportunities of your life and those of the 
boys and girls of early colonial days. Their ways of living 
were very simple. In their homes, for example, they read 
by candle-light, and even, perhaps, helped to make the 
candles. You move a switch and your page is flooded with 
a bright, clear light. They had to run to the spring for 


470 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


water and fetch it in a pail. You turn a faucet and a 
stream of water gushes forth. 

How different also were their methods of travel and 
communication! A jaunt through the woods on horse¬ 
back, or by sloop along a watercourse, was a long way to 
go to meet a friend. The lumbering stage-coach was tedious 
and expensive for a journey of greater length. Time and 
thought had to be given to the making of such visits. How 
is it with you? Interurban trolleys, express-trains, auto¬ 
mobiles, and flying-machines await your pleasure. 

Joy had to wait on patience when news from far-away 
friends was sought. By horse and foot it came with the 
slow methods of travel. Your letter can be carried a thou¬ 
sand miles by rail in perhaps a day; your telegraph message 
can be delivered in a few hours; or you can talk over the 
telephone almost without delay. 

Think, too, of broadcasting the tones of the human 
voice, in speech or song, so that countless people in hundreds 
of cities, towns, villages, and country homes can hear almost 
as distinctly as though the speaker or the singer were in 
the same room ! To those other boys and girls who listened 
mostly to the tones of church-bells, this wonderful experi¬ 
ence, now so commonplace to us, would have seemed 
unbelievable. 

When we read our morning or evening paper we learn 
the principal. events that have taken place in any part of 
the civilized world within twenty-four hours. The tele- 


HERITAGE OF AMERICAN BOYS AND GIRLS 471 

graph, the telephone, the express-train, and the flying- 
machine make possible this rapid gathering of news. It 
requires but a day or even less to learn of important events 
occurring in distant lands and to get news which a century 
ago required many months. 

Compare, also, our schools and those of colonial da}^s. 
You would find it hard to give up your well-equipped and 
costly buildings, with their large, light, and airy rooms, for 
the one-room log cabins, without even a blackboard. If in 
imagination you will go into one of those one-room schools 
and look around, you will notice how few the books, how 
hard and uncomfortable the seats, how frosty in winter 
must be the window-panes, and you will feel grateful, per¬ 
haps, for the blessings you enjoy. 

How wonderful would the motion-pictures seem to boys 
and girls of a hundred years ago! With what surprise 
would they see men and women of distant lands and of 
other times flitting across the screen, just as all appeared 
in days long gone by. 

You are, indeed, living in a wonderful age. You have 
comforts and opportunities undreamed of by Washington 
or Lincoln and other great makers of our republic. These 
have come to you through the sweat and toil of self-sacri¬ 
ficing inventors and numberless workers of att earlier time; 
and they are your heritage from the past. 

What will you do with this heritage? Will you accept 
and enjoy it without thought of its meaning? It all comes 


472 


LEADERS IN MAKING AMERICA 


to you without effort on your part; but where much is 
given, much, also, is required. This is the law of life. If 
you would make the most of yourself, you must obey this 
law in what you think, in what you say, in what you do. 

You owe the best that you have and the best you can 
do to your school, your community, your state, and your 
country. Although you may not be able to do great things, 
you can be honest and true, and by doing well whatever is 
worth doing, you can make yourselves useful citizens. You 
can be loyal to your flag, to your country, and to your own 
highest ideal, always remembering that a great and good 
nation is made only of great and good men and women. 

Some Things to Think About 

1. Has a boy or girl a better opportunity to-day to be a good and use¬ 

ful citizen than in earlier days? 

2. What does “Equality of Opportunity” mean to you? What things 

in our life tend toward giving equality of opportunity? 

3. What obligation does your heritage of rights and privileges impose 

upon you? This is something every boy and girl should begin 
to think about. 

4. How can you best fulfil the obligations in return for the rights 

which you enjoy? 

5. In what ways can you be a patriotic American ? 


PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES 


President 


Term of Office 


George Washington . . . 

John Adams. 

Thomas Jefferson.... 
James Madison .... 

James Monroe. 

John Quincy Adams . . 

Andrew Jackson .... 
Martin Van Buren . . . 

William Henry Harrison 

John Tyler. 

James Knox Polk.... 
Zachary Taylor .... 
Millard Fillmore .... 
Franklin Pierce .... 
James Buchanan .... 
Abraham Lincoln .... 
Andrew Johnson .... 
Ulysses Simpson Grant . . 

Rutherford Burchard Hayes 
James Abram Garfield . 
Chester Alan Arthur. . . 

Grover Cleveland . . . 

Benjamin Harrison . . . 

Grover Cleveland . . . 

William McKinley . . . 

Theodore Roosevelt . . . 

William Howard Taft . . 

Woodrow Wilson .... 
Warren Gamaliel Harding . 
Calvin Coolidge .... 


2 terms; 1789-1797. 

1 term; 1797-1801. 

2 terms; 1801-1809. 

2 terms; 1809-1817. 

2 terms; 1817-1825. 

1 term; 1825-1829. 

2 terms; 1829-1837. 

1 term; 1837-1841. 

1 month; 1841. 

3 yrs. 11 mos.; 1841-1S45 
1 term; 1845-1849. 

1 yr. 4 mos.; 1849, 1850. 

2 yrs. 8 mos.; 1850-1853. 

1 term; 1853-1857. 

1 term; 1857-1861. 

1 term and 6 wks.; 1861-1865. 

3 yrs. 10 mos. 15 days; 1865-1869. 

2 terms; 1869-1877. 

1 term; 1877-1881. 

6 mos. 15 days; 1881. 

3 yrs. 5 mos. 15 days; 1881-1885. 

1 term; 1885-1889. 

1 term; 1889-1893. 

1 term; 1893-1897. 

1 term, 6 mos. 10 days; 1897-1901. 

1 term, 3 yrs. 5 mos. 20 days; 1901-1909. 

1 term; 1909-1913. 

2 terms; 1913-1921. 

2 yrs. 4 mos. 29 days; 1921-1923. 

1923- 


473 













INDEX 


Adams, Samuel, 147-158, 164 

Arabic, the, 458 

Airplane, 420, 421 

Alamo, 290, 291 

Albany, 82, 84 

Algonquin Indians, 14 

Allies, the, 460 

Amendment, Eighteenth, 444; Nine¬ 
teenth, 454 
American desert, 388 
Amsterdam, New r 88 
Anna, Santa, 290-292 
Antietam, battle of, 338 
Applegate, Jesse, 290 
Appomattox Court House, Lee’s sur¬ 
render at, 334, 353 
Argonne Forest, 463 
Atlanta, capture of, 349 
Automobile, 416-418 
Aztecs, 25 

Backwoodsmen, life among, 221-225 

Balboa, 23, 24 

Baltimore, Lord, 50 

Barlow, Joel, 272 

Barton, Clara, 445-449 

Bell, Alexander Graham, 409-412 

Belleau Wood, 462 

Bird Woman, 262 

Bon Homme Richard (bo-nom're- 
shar'), 211 

Boone, Daniel, 213-218 
Boston, 69 

“ Boston Tea Party,” 151-156 
Braddock, General, 122-124 
Brandywine Creek, 187 
Brewster, William, 59 
“Buffalo Bill,” 368-372. See Cody 
Buffaloes, 390, 391 
Bull Run, battle of, 338 
Bunker Hill, battle of, 169, 170 
Burbank, Luther, 424—429 
Burgoyne (ber-goin'), General, his 
invasion, 186-189 
Burke, Edmund, 144 

Cabinet, the President’s, 244 
Cabot, John, 30, 31 


Calhoun, John C., 306, 307, 315, 316, 
319, 320, 322 
Camden, battle of, 196 
Carey Act, 386 
Carson, Kit, 293, 294 
Cartier, 104, 105 
Carver, Governor, 66 
Catholic missionaries, 106 
Cattle-raising, 379-382 
Cedar Creek, battle of, 350 
•Central Pacific Railroad, 373, 374 
Central Powers, 456 
Cervera, Admiral, 400, 401 
Champlain, 85, 105 
Chateau-Thierry, 462 
Cherokee Indians, 287, 288 
Civil War, 323-357 
Clark, George Rogers, 226-236 
Clark, William, 260-263 
Clay, Henry, 308-311, 315, 317, 318, 
320 322 

Clermont, the, 273-275 
Cleveland, Grover, 392-396 
Clinton, DeWitt, 276, 277 
Coal strike of 1902, 437, 438 
Cody, William F., 368-372. See 
“Buffalo Bill” 

Colonies become states, 177 
Columbus, Christopher, 4-12 
Compromise, Missouri, 314, 315, 322 
Compromise of 1850, 319-320, 323 
Comstock Lode, 362 
Confederate States of America, or¬ 
ganization of, 332 

Congress, Continental, first meeting 
of, 158; second meeting of, 172 
Congress, United States, 239 
Constitutional Convention, 237-240 
Continental Army, 168 
Corn, 382-384 

Cornwallis, General, 183,186, 200-206 
Cortez, Hernando, 24, 25 
Cotton-gin, invention of, 246, 247 
Cowboys, 379-382 
Cowpens, battle of, 201 
Creek Indians, 287 
Crockett, David, 290-292 
Cubans rise against Spain, 398 

475 


476 


INDEX 


Custer, General, 370 
Custis, Mrs. Martha, 171 

Da Gama, Vasco, 34 

Dale, Sir Thomas, 46, 47 

Davis, Jefferson, 331, 332, 337 

Dawes, William, 161, 164 

Declaration of Independence, 175-177 

Delaware, Lord, 45, 46 

De Leon, 26, 27 

De Soto, Hernando, 27-29 

Dewey, Admiral, 399, 400 

Diego, 6, 7 

Donelson, Fort, 345 

Dorchester Heights, 175 

Douglas, Stephen A., 330 

Draft Bill, Army, 461 

Drake, Sir Francis, 31-34 

Duquesne, Fort, 119 

Dutch, 82-91 

Early, General, at Cedar Creek, 
351 352 

Edison, Thomas A., 404-408 
Elizabeth, Queen, 35, 36 
Ellsworth, Miss, 285, 286 
Emancipation Proclamation, 334, 356, 
357 

Ericsson, Leif, 4 
Erie Canal, 276-278 

Fairfax, Lord, 116 
Ferdinand, King, 7, 11 
Fitch, John, 269 
Flatboat, 256 
Florida, purchase of, 268 
Foch, Marshall, 463 
Ford, Henry, 414-418 
Forest preservation, 436, 437 
Fox, Charles James, 144 
France aids the Americans, 189 
Franklin, Benjamin, 120-122, 176, 
189 

Fremont, John C., 292-297 
French villages, old, 227, 228 
French War, Last, 124-128 
Fulton, Robert, 270-275 

Gage, General, 156, 160 
Gates, General, 196 
George III, 137, 144, 148, 151, 152 
Georgia, 52-55 

Gettysburg, battle of, 341, 342 
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 36 


Gold, discovery of, in California, 302- 
305 

Grant, Ulysses S., 334, 342-356 
Great Northern Railroad, 376-378 
Greeley, Horace, 365 
Greene, Nathanael, 195-205 
Grenville, Sir Richard, 37 
Griffin, the, 110 

Guilford Court House, battle of, 205 

Hale, Nathan, 179-181 
Half Moon, the, 82 
Hamilton, Alexander, 240, 244 
Hamilton, Colonel, 232, 236 
Hancock, John, 160, 164 
Hayne, Senator, 317, 322 
Henry, Fort, 345 
Henry, Patrick, 137-146 
Hessians, 183 
Hill, James J., 376-378 
Hobson, Richmond P., 400 
Homestead Act, 382, 384 
Houston, Sam, 287-292 
Howe, General, 168, 169, 175, 177, 
187, 188 

Hudson, Henry, 82, 83 
Hudson River, 82 
Hutchinson, Governor, 152 

Independence of the United 
States, 175, 176 
Inca, the, 26 
Indentured servants, 48 
Indians, the, 11, 14-21, 51, 98, 99, 
389, 390 

Irrigation, 385-388, 436, 437 
Iroquois Indians, 14, 85, 86 
Isabella, Queen, 7, 11 

Jackson, Andrew, 263-268, 316, 317 
Jackson, Thomas J. (“Stonewall”), 
338, 339, 357 
Jamestown, 40 
Jay, John, 244 

Jefferson, Thomas, 176, 251-257 
Johnston, Joseph E., 346 
Joliet, 107 

Jones, John Paul, 207-212 

Kaiser, the, 462, 464 
Kaskaskia (kas-kas'-ki-a), 230 
Kentucky, 214, 215 
King, Clarence, 358, 359, 362 
Knox, Henry, 244 


INDEX 


477 


La Fayette (la-fa-et'), 190, 191 

Lane, Ralph, 37 

Langley, Samuel Pierpont, 420 

La Salle, 108-113 

Last French War, 118-128 

Lee, Robert E., 334, 335-356 

Lewis and Clark’s expedition, 260-263 

Lewis, Meriwether, 260-263 

Lexington, battle of, 164, 165 

Liberty Loans, 465 

Lincoln, Abraham, 323-335 

Lincoln, General, 196 

Livingston, Chancellor, 243 

Livingston, Robert R., 272 

London Company, 40, 47 

Long Island, battle of, 177 

Louisiana Purchase, 255 

Lusitania, 458 

McClellan, General, 337 
Madison, James, 237, 240 
Magellan, Ferdinand, 22, 23 
Maine, the, 399 
Mandan Indians, 260 
Manhattan Island, 83, 84 
Marconi, Guglielmo, 412 
Marion, Francis, 202-204 
Marquette, Father, 106-108 
Maryland, 49-52 
Massachusetts, 63-70 
Massasoit, 66 
Mayflower, the, 60, 61 
McKinley, William, 396-399 
Meade, General, 341 
Mexican Cession, 297 
Mexican War, 297, 344, 368 
Mines and mining, 360 
Mining camp, 360 
Minuit, Peter, 84 
Minutemen, 159, 160 
Missions, Spanish, in California, 128- 
135 

Mississippi River, 28, 29 

Missouri Compromise, 314, 315, 322 

Mohawk Valley, 187 

Monroe, James, 257 

Montcalm, General, 126-128 

Montezuma, 25 

Montreal, 104 

Morgan, Daniel, 199-201 

Morse, Samuel F. B., 281-286 

Napoleon I, 257 
National Road, 275, 276 


New Amsterdam, 83, 88 
New England, 59-72 
New Netherland, 83-91 
New Orleans, 258, 259 
Newport, Captain, 43 
New York, 83-91 
Northwest Passage, 83 
Nullification, 316 

Oglethorpe, James, 52-54 
Ohio Company, 114, 118 
Old North Church, 162 
Old South Church, 153, 154 
Oregon, 297-301 

Pack-horse, 255 

Panama Canal, 438-440 

Partisan warfare in the South, 202 

Patroons, 87, 88 

Penn, William, 95-99 

Pennsylvania, 95-103 

Philadelphia, 98 

Pilgrims, 59-68 

Pitcairn, Major, 165 

Pitt, William, 124, 144 

Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 345 

Pizarro, Francisco, 24, 25 

Plymouth, 63 

Pocahontas, 43 

Pony Express, 364, 366, 368 

“Poor Richard’s Almanack,” 121 

Powell, John Wesley, 385 

Powhatan, 43 

Prescott, Samuel, 164 

Providence, 72 

Puritans, 59, 68-72 

Quakers, 95, 96 
Quebec, capture of, 126-128 

4 

Radio, 413 
Railroad, 279-281 
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 34-39 
Randolph, Edmund, 244 
Reclamation Act, 386, 387 
Red Cross, American, 448, 464 
Revere, Paul, 161-164 
Revolution, cause of, 137-158 
Rhode Island, 72 
Roanoke Island, 37-39 
Robertson, James, 218-220 
Rocky Mountains, 359 
Roosevelt, Theodore, 401, 430-441 


478 


INDEX 


Rotch, Benjamin, 152, 155 
Rowe, John, 155 

St. Lawrence River, 104 
Salem, 69 
Samoset, 66 
San Francisco, 302 
Santa Maria, 8 
Savannah, 53 
Schley, Commodore, 400 
Scott, General, 317 
Scrooby, 59 

Secession of South Carolina and ten 
other slave states, 316-318 
Seminole Indians, 267 
Serapis (se-ra'pis), 211 
Sevier, John, 220, 221 
Shaw, Anna Howard, 449-454 
Shenandoah Valley, 350 
Sheridan, Philip H., 349-351, 357 
Sherman, William Tecumseh, 346- 
349 357 

Shiloh, battle of, 345 
Sierra Nevada Mountains, 359 
Sioux Indians, 389 
Slavery, 48, 247-249 
Smith, Captain John, 41-44 
Smith, Colonel, 166 
South Carolina, 315-318 
Southern Colonies, 40-57 
Southern Indians, 14 
Speedwell, the, 60, 61 
Stage-coach, 364, 365 
Stamp Act, 137-144 ' 

Standish, Miles, 62, 65, 66 
Steamboat, 270-273 
Stephens, Alexander, 331 
Stuart, J. E. B., 339, 357 
Stuyvesant, Governor, 89, 90 
Submarines, 457-460 
Suiter, Captain, 302 

Tariff, 315-318, 394 
Tarleton, Colonel, 200, 201 
Taxation of the Colonies, 137-158 


Tea, tax on, 151 
Telegraph, 282-286 
Telephone, 412 
Tennessee, 218-221 
Texas, 288-292 
Thanksgiving Day, 57, 67 
Tobacco, 48 

Trenton, battle of, 183-185 
Triple Entente, 456 

Union Pacific Railroad, 373, 374 

Valley Forge, sufferings at, 191-193 
Vespucius, Americus, 12, 13 
Vicksburg, capture of, 345 
Vincennes, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235 
Virginia, 40-49 

Washington, D. C., made the na¬ 
tional capital, 245 

Washington, George, 114-118, 123, 
124, 171-194, 240-250 
Webster, Daniel, 311-313, 320, 321, 
322 

West, Benjamin, 271, 282 
Wheat, 382-384 
White, John, 38, 39 
Whitman, Marcus, 301 
Whitney, Eli, 246 
Wilderness Road, 216 
Willard, Frances E., 441-444 
Williams, Roger, 70-72 
Wilson, Woodrow, 454-457 
Winthrop, John, 70 
Wireless telegraph, 412 
Wireless telephone, 412, 413 
Wolfe, General, 124-127 
Woman’s Christian Temperance 
Union, 443 

Woman suffrage, 450-454 
World War, 454-466 
Wright brothers, 419-421 

Yorktown, Cornwallis surrendered, 
206 
























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